Michael, another great video, i can see all the hard work you put into the videos. Anytime i am looking for Mercruiser vids I watch your videos first! Thanks for posting these vids. My boat is a 1989 Wellcraft so i am doing all the same things to my boat that you are and probably more.
I could not for the life of me get that top bolt off the bulkhead retainer. The bolt on mine was rotated in a way where I could not get an open end wrench on it to break it loose as shown in the video. I bent the box end of a spare 7/16" wrench to clear the u-joint bellow mating surface, but could not get enough bite to break it either. I ended up sneaking a long 1/4" wobble extension between the gimbal and transom housing, then put a shallow 7/16" socket on the end and was able to break it free that way. Took some adjustment moving the gimbal side to side to get the right angle to get the socket on. Once it was broken loose I used the bent box end to finish removal. I tried about a dozen other methods but this was the one that worked for me.
Thanks for watching and sharing your experience. This can definitely be a very tedious project, especially when it comes time to remove as well as resecure plate and bolts. We are honored you took the time to share this. Any at all helpful info, tricks, and methods is greatly appreciated here on our channel. 😁👍🧰
The top bolt holding the retainer can be a bitch… I took a box end wrench and stuck in a bench vice and used a hammer and gave it a little more angle … made a worlds difference getting room to turn the wrench to get the top bolt out…
