My Bottom

[Bigplumbs]

Well it was a sad day as I pulled the boat out yesterday for the end of the season. It went on the trailer on the slip far better than I expected but them with a rising tide the Discovery would not start. That focuses your mind. After about 10 mins of faffing she started and pulled her out.

Generally my Hull antifoul worked well but the stuff (Trilux) I used on the stern gear was pants. See pics

Also my exhaust bellows has come off at the stern end (Alpha 1 gen 2) as can be seen in the pic also. Does anyone know if this can be reattached without having to take the whole leg off

Thanks

Dennis

[argonaut]

"Discovery would not start. "

Landrover - making mechanics out of owners for 50 years

[shibbs]

But it did start...in the end, it was just playing with you!!
I struggle with my drive leg too, trilux is pants! will be trying something different next season!
As for the bellows, i believe... it can be done with the leg in place, however, as i understand it, it's much easier with the leg removed so you can move it about easier. Removing the leg is literally a 10 minute job so may be worth taking the hit? A good chance to anti foul and clean properly too?

[Bigplumbs]

That amount of foul on my boat cost me about 8 Knots or more by the end of the season. I think I will have to take her out half way next year and give her a jet wash.

Some speed boat guys near me have a good Idea they leave their boats in for a week and use them 2 weekends then take them out for the mid week seems to work well and stops foul

Dennis

[argonaut]

Take the leg off to do the bellows - and use the adhesive when fitting it back on.

I'm glad I don't moor - my drive leg looks same as day it was made - in fact better as I fitted some bling - a skeg guard :

[ChrisH]

Get a drive on floating dock like me. No need for antifouling but you are still on rhe water.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Bigplumbs]

Take the leg off to do the bellows - and use the adhesive when fitting it back on.

I'm glad I don't moor - my drive leg looks same as day it was made - in fact better as I fitted some bling - a skeg guard :

Very posh leg and skeg

Now that is some bling. The mooring we are on is a swinging mooring so floating dock is no good. Where I boat and have to moor this is the best and cheapest option. Next year I will just pull her out mid season.

Convention wisdom from the 'other site' is that the exhaust bellows do not need fixing at the other end as all that does it put the exhaust through prop. The leg is all cleaned up now as is the hull. Amazing what a small karcher pressure washer can do

Dennis

[betty boop]

Take the leg off to do the bellows - and use the adhesive when fitting it back on.

I'm glad I don't moor - my drive leg looks same as day it was made - in fact better as I fitted some bling - a skeg guard :

Very posh leg and skeg

Now that is some bling. The mooring we are on is a swinging mooring so floating dock is no good. Where I boat and have to moor this is the best and cheapest option. Next year I will just pull her out mid season.

Convention wisdom from the 'other site' is that the exhaust bellows do not need fixing at the other end as all that does it put the exhaust through prop. The leg is all cleaned up now as is the hull. Amazing what a small karcher pressure washer can do

Dennis

nor sure I agree with that wisdom, the exhaust thru the prop provides a small amount of propulsion and I assume anti cativation gases thru the prop. The later I read many moons ago and didnt quite understand. Id think of it simply as if Mr Mercrusier decided it doesn't need to vent thru the prop then he wouldn't have bothered with designing it that way. I'd also suspect that at speed gas venting thru the bellow alone would destroy the bellow itself then destroy everything in its path over your leg also allowing water to get into the exhaust pipes back in the engine bay with the exhaust flaps not being able to cope. but then Im no expert.

Id be interested in how you get the barnacles off though, I have lots of barnacle residue on the part work that I need to get rid of but they don't seem to shift and I can't paint over small white rings

[mlines]

However Mr Mercruiser fits their own "open ended" bellows, second item down http://www.mercstuff.com/exhaustbellows.htm

This is what is fitted to ours, I believe as standard form the factory,

With the drive down it slots with the metal stub tube so a lot of the gases still go through the drive, visible as gases exiting the prop when looking down into the water when stationary.

[Ianfs]

Looking at the first pictures of your stern drive it looks as if you have mostly algae growth with a few smallish barnacles, so the anti foul must have done some good and if you had moored with your leg up, the sunlight would help the algae too. Glad to hear you got it off though.

I read in one of your "other" posts that someone thinks by having your exhaust bellows disconnected it will sink the boat, either he hasn't read your post properly or he's a numpty who wants to add to his post scores!

As Martin (alias Mike ) has said, Mercruiser do supply and fit a straight fit exhaust tube to Bravo Three but I don't think they have vented props similar to those fitted to the Bravo Ones and Alpha drives. Also I seem to remember they were made because quite a few exhaust bellows were coming off Bravo drives, like yours came off the Alpha. Ian read about anti cavitation gases going through the prop, but I think he is talking about the above, i.e. Mercury's Performance Venting System. Some props (I can't see them on yours, its ali not stainless) have vent holes enabling exhaust gases to be vented (not cavitated) through the holes at hole shot. This allows the props to spin up more quickly and doesn't allow the engine to baulk, but instead gets the prop revving and once there is sufficient water flow over the prop holes, the gases are directed through the prop. The production of 4 and 5 blade props seems to have taken its place except where a fast Bass boat owner wants a fast 3 blade propeller, although my Laser II has vent holes but they are a real pain at slow speeds.

Although you probably don't want the extra work Dennis, if your drive was worked on 2 yrs ago, don't you think it might be worth a look see inside it just to check for corrosion, leakages, gimbal bearings ok etc? The genuine gasket kit is only about £12-£15 so not dear and you could inspect the impeller whilst you are at it. You'll be all ready to go next season then without any worries.