2. I just read your FAQ on reversing gear and see how I must have tightened the collar locksrew as you advised NOT TO! and broke off the cast iron base it was in. That was HOW so now WHAT can I do?

So sorry to hear of your plight!

The short answer to your question is that you have to drill and tap a 1/4 X 20 hole in one of the other two "boss" areas in the cast iron pressure plate.

Access problems on most boats ("V" drive engines are the easiest to work on in this case) make it necessary to move the engine front into the cabin area so that this drilling and tapping can be accomplished. I've heard of quite a few folks who have successfully made this repair by having a second person hold a vacuum cleaner directly at the hole so that drillings from the "drilling and tapping" operation won't fall down into the area below the reversing gear, and eventually into the crank case. I would also spray the area with carburetor cleaner, so that the chips will suck up easier.

You could also remove the aft housing and replace the reversing gear itself with one of our rebuilt units. They are shown in our online catalog with a product number of: OREV_01_226. Just search on "226" (without the quotes). - Updated: February 5, 2004