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justleft
12-02-2011, 01:53 PM
Do the Bravo replacement skegs vary in quality and fit ?

The Merc skeg is NLA and NOS is being listed at $130+ !!
The other blanks around are $23 - $87. (I think I will avoid the $23)

Some genious had layed on Bondo 1/8" - 1/4" thick right over old paint !!! I assume to cover pitting.
Allot of the body filler was lifting and showing bubbles. After sanding it off the drive doesn't look that bad.

Slop and runout of the prop shaft are within spec, so I think skeg and paint will do it. (Satin silver would be nice)

69021

biggiefl
12-02-2011, 02:31 PM
The $23 are not bad at all but might not match the look 100%. You can cut where you want to and the farther away from the gears the better due to the heat of the TIG. You can also go with a Skeggard and not worry about it again but some don't like the look. I had one on my Baja as the welded replacements just kept breaking at the same spot and the welds looked worse than the gard. If you do go Skeggard, fill it with epoxy and just slide it over your old skeg, wipe off remaining epoxy, no need for the bolts.

MOP
12-02-2011, 04:55 PM
Like mentioned above the Skeg Guard is a better way to go! The epoxy trick is the best but thorough cleaning on the damaged skeg and the inside of the guard just prior to inserting into the epoxy is a must. We had one spit the guard off when a customer hit a bar, needless to say he was not happy. From that point on we sanded teh inside of the guard and cleaned it with acetone, clean the guard first then brush the skeg with a "STAINLESS STEEL" brush. Do not use any iron bearing products, either the sand paper or the wire brush. Any minute iron particles left behind will be trouble.

Conquistador_del_mar
12-02-2011, 06:34 PM
I have a welder who has rebuilt a lot worse skegs than the one you show. If you wrap the hub area with a wet towel to act as a heat sink, you will not do any damage to the gears, bearings, seals or housing. When the welder is finished, you can fill the rest of the areas with almost any body filler and repaint to look like new. Here is a Bravo I refinished this summer. The reflection on the side is my gravel driveway and not flaws. Bill

justleft
12-06-2011, 02:19 PM
Very nice and a nose cone too !!!

Conquistador_del_mar
12-10-2011, 08:01 PM
I have decided to do a nose on the lower after the skeg is welded on.

After removing a ton of material from the nosecone it fits !!!
The nosecone is covering the oil fill/drain hole.

How did you get yours to look so nice ? I was thinking of drilling an over sized hole
in the nosecone and then making it pretty at the bondo stage.

Also the body guy near by said to use Metal-To-Metal body filler as it has a high
aluminum content and gives the primer aluminum to stick to over the whole drive.

take care, bob

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Bob,
Since you PMed me this question, I thought I would answer here in the forum. Apparently your nosecone was not the one specific for your lower unit or it would have fit almost perfectly. Sometimes I have had to slightly modify the nosecone with a die grinder, but not usually. To accomodate the drain hole, I use a bolt with a piece of rubber tubing on it so no material gets into the hole area when I am filling the drive with putty. You need to use epoxy like Marinetex to adhere the nosecone well, but after it is set you can use almost any body filler to get the contours right. This is where you will spend your time. Make sure the nosecone is absolutely perfectly in alignment with the drive and then fill all the rest making it as perfect as possible between sandings. I use hand blocks, line sanders, and finishing sanders to get it perfect before paint work. I don't think I have ever used less than about 10 batches of putty before I was happy with the results. Like someone recently posted, drives need to be perfect or you lose performance. Apparently there are companies specializing in perfecting factory drives for maximum speed. I then use an epoxy primer to make sure the lower unit is prepped for paint. I usually have to resand some areas and reshoot with primer before painting it. I personally now use Imron 99U black, but I also used to like black lacquer. Let me know you saw my response here. Bill