Tilt Gear Box Fun

Well the parts came in this weekend and I got the box back together but not without a lot of fun. First attempt, replaced the bushing slid in the clutch assembly then put in the worm gear shaft and gear. Replaced the O-Ring on the end cap. Tapped it in pace and reinstalled the snap ring. Then I got up in the boat and and put the hammer blow coupling and the motor in placed. At this point I turned on the key and tried to run the tilt. NOTHING but some clicking. So, I took the motor off. In the process the motor came apart. I set that a side for the time being. Stuck a screw driver into the slot where the coupling sits. The shaft would not turn. Took the whole thing apart again. Checked all the alignments, and then put it back together. Got back in the boat and tried turning the shaft. This time it worked without any problems.

Now back to the motor. I tapped the armature out of the end cap. Reassembled the armature into the brushes. Slid the case over the armature and then tapped the end cap back on. Then I wrapped electrical tape around it to hold it all together. Applied power to it and it worked. Reinstalled the motor and coupling and everything worked. Back out side to the gear box. I installed the gear box outer cover and noticed that this tended to add a lot of friction to the system. It appears that it preloads the clutch shaft in the axial direction. It appears that up to an 1/8" spacer would be ideal, however, the shaft would float about a 1/32" if this was used. Anyway, I did not put a shim in as the book does not show one. After the cover was on I tried running the motor. it ran good but did not "coast" as long as it used to when the friction was lower.

At this point I installed the sector gear back on to the lower unit and gave it a shot. All worked. Clunked it down hard several times and everytime it lifted the unit back up. She's ready for the water again.