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1963 Mercruiser 1 lower unit rebuild

S

Stinsondriver

New member
I have a 1963 mercruiser 1 (different from the 1970 to 1983 Mercriiser 1) on a restored Penn Yan that I have owned for 30 years. My lower unit gears expired two years ago and after finding all the parts including a new housing and driveshaft I turned everything over to a lo a local shop for assembly. A year later I reclaimed my parts and finding no other local shops willing to work on an old dog,, sent them to a shop several states away, that was May. Having missed another season I am now requesting that this shop return my parts. Does anyone know of someone that will work on an older unit. Seems all the shops I talk to are busy enugh that they don't want to be bothered by me. Any help would be appreciated, I just don't have the tools to set up and shim the gears.

Thanks for any help.
 
Seems all the shops I talk to are busy enugh (sic) that they don't want to be bothered by me.
Bingo. You're on your own here, mate. Our hosts have the parts here along with the exploded views so that you can reassemble in the correct order.
http://www.marineengine.com/parts/mercruiser-sterndrive-parts/i-1963/1534570-thru-1684187

Shim by feel. There shouldn't be any real slop in the gear teeth. You will not be able to measure the backlash but you should be able to detect a very slight click of the teeth when you rotate the shaft(s) back and forth.
 
fastjeff said:
Buy one of those SEI replacement units.

Jeff
Click to expand...

Jeff,
Thanks but I don't think sei can help me. The 63 Mercruiser 1 was a different beast. It had an 8 spline driveshaft and used the smaller diameter prop hub, hence smaller diameter gear housing. The lower unit case was common to the mercruiser 1A. 1B and 1C as well as some outboards of the day, but there is very little common with the later Mercruiser 1 and with the driveshaft difference, I am unaware of any options to swap it out with a newer lower unit.
 
These guys may be able to help down towards bottom of the page they show you drive.

https://www.allamericandriveservice.com/outdrives

Had a '65 or '66 EZ shift in my grandfathers Penn Yan, was had to get parts for 25 years ago..

Post a pic or two of your Penn Yan if you dont mind. Always loved the dash and the windsheilds that opened forward for airflow.
 
Dieter said:
These guys may be able to help down towards bottom of the page they show you drive.

https://www.allamericandriveservice.com/outdrives

Had a '65 or '66 EZ shift in my grandfathers Penn Yan, was had to get parts for 25 years ago..

Post a pic or two of your Penn Yan if you dont mind. Always loved the dash and the windsheilds that opened forward for airflow.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will give them a try. Parts have in a way gotten easier to find with more parts stocks now on line and especially as Marineengine.com seems to be buying up a lot of part stocks. It used to take me days of cold calling but I have found more parts in the last 5 years than I found in the preceding 25.

I don't have any good photos as we are just finishing up a refinish (can run the boat so may as well brush varnish), but I will post a few in progress photos as well as an older photo.
 
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