Ok, I took everyone's advice and I'm changing the bellows on my twin
Volvo duoprop outdrives. I've read the manual and started taking apart
the first outdrive. According to directions, you don't take off the
entire outdrive, only the upper gear case (whew!).

I've gotten everything going good except that I'm stuck on the last
part. I've removed the two allen head bolts that attach the outdrive
to the steering helmet but the helmet is still in the way of lifting
off the upper gear housing. Manual says to put two longer screws into
the helmet case to removed it.

I don't understand how this will move the steering helmet out of the
way.

Can someone try and explain this a little better for me? I'm almost
there and I don't want to force anything and break it.

I've been taking digital photos of the whole process as I go and I'd be
happy to share them with someone else that's thinking of tackling this
job.

One more thing, when I broke open the u-joint bellow water came pouring
out. Any chance the stuff inside the bellow is still possibly good?
(I'll say a prayer tonight). If not, what else besides new bellows can
I expect to change and will I know what to change based on sight? A
word of advice...if you have a Volvo duoprop and you think you can wait
until you see water seeping into the boat in order to change the
bellows, guess what? There's a seal that prevents that from happening.
If I had known how easy it was to crack open the bellows and check
inside of them, I would have done it before.

Thanks in advance.

After you removed the 2 screws in the top of the helemt there is the piece
the screws came out of that needs to be removed. If you are lucky, the holes
are threaded and you can put a screw in and pull the piece out. Otherwise,
follow what the book says. Change the ujoints, yoke, and seal while you have
it apart.
JIMinFL
"Big Daddy" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ok, I took everyone's advice and I'm changing the bellows on my twin
Volvo duoprop outdrives. I've read the manual and started taking apart
the first outdrive. According to directions, you don't take off the
entire outdrive, only the upper gear case (whew!).

I've gotten everything going good except that I'm stuck on the last
part. I've removed the two allen head bolts that attach the outdrive
to the steering helmet but the helmet is still in the way of lifting
off the upper gear housing. Manual says to put two longer screws into
the helmet case to removed it.

I don't understand how this will move the steering helmet out of the
way.

Can someone try and explain this a little better for me? I'm almost
there and I don't want to force anything and break it.

I've been taking digital photos of the whole process as I go and I'd be
happy to share them with someone else that's thinking of tackling this
job.

One more thing, when I broke open the u-joint bellow water came pouring
out. Any chance the stuff inside the bellow is still possibly good?
(I'll say a prayer tonight). If not, what else besides new bellows can
I expect to change and will I know what to change based on sight? A
word of advice...if you have a Volvo duoprop and you think you can wait
until you see water seeping into the boat in order to change the
bellows, guess what? There's a seal that prevents that from happening.
If I had known how easy it was to crack open the bellows and check
inside of them, I would have done it before.

Thanks in advance.

On 26 Apr 2005 18:39:29 -0700, "Big Daddy" wrote:

Ok, I took everyone's advice and I'm changing the bellows on my twin
Volvo duoprop outdrives.

I had these on my Riva 44. Darn nice units.

Until you have to buy parts for them

"harry.krause" wrote in message
...
On 26 Apr 2005 18:39:29 -0700, "Big Daddy" wrote:

Ok, I took everyone's advice and I'm changing the bellows on my twin
Volvo duoprop outdrives.

I had these on my Riva 44. Darn nice units.