b75 stringer trim worm blew out of housing

"Last weekend I was getting re

"Last weekend I was getting ready to set the timing on my '75 351 stringer when the trim just clicked the solenoids. I drained the clutch housing and found water intrusion. So I pulled the cover and soaked it with penetrating oil and freed it up. Installed a new o-ring and replaced the cover on the intermediate hsng. My friend hopped up in the boat and leaned on the trim switch, and BLAM, the lower unit crashed down. When it hit bottom, the c-clip and the end bushing blew out of the housing like they were shot from a gun. All of the pot metal where the retining clip was broke off. I've heard there was a kit(?) made to retrofit this problem. Anyone hear of this? I've got an idea of how to take care of it using set screws into the o-ring slot on the retainer, but wondered if there is a fix for this I haven't heard of. Any ideas?"

later models used a plate with

later models used a plate with 3 bolts to hold the worm gear in. (your problem was quite common) don't know if your upper has the capacity for refit.

Mine has the retrofit. It is b

Mine has the retrofit. It is basically a small piece of angle iron bolted along side the housing with 2 holes that had to be drilled. To the angle iron is another short piece welded on to make a L. The short leg of the L has a bolt and nut tightened to hold the end cap in place. It may be hard to visualize this but I can take a pic if needed.

"I measured, drilled, and tapp

"I measured, drilled, and tapped for three screws into the o-ring on the bushing, and it worked great! I then sealed the housing with some hi-temp rtv. Unit goes up and down fine now. We'll see how long it lasts. Thanks guys!!"