The end of the bolt (about the last 1/4 inch or so) is not threaded, and is a little narrower than the rest of the bolt, ostensibly so that the end of the bolt feeds into the hole more easily.
Mark, if you want - I have 12 6.5 inch bolts in my garage. They are the same spec as what BRP uses, 1/2" coarse thread. I can ship a pair to you tomorrow, you should have them Thursday. You'd have to scare up 2 coarse thread nuts. ( insert joke here) We keep extras on hand because the new boats have really thick transoms and you need the longer bolts for the top.
Mark, I am going up to see my friend when my parts come in today. I ordered the regulator, two thermostats and a whole new waterpump. It has been a while since the pump was replaced and the thermostats are the originals. The last time I ran the motor, it was running a little warmer than it does with a new pump although it had good pressure. The electronics are mounted in a pretty hot area and I have surmised in the past that the temp could have caused electronics failures. I will bring the two 6 inch bolts home so I can ship them if you want. They are Mercury bolts that are normally used to hold the engine block to the midsection, so they are high quality bolts. They are used. jim
Mark, I would not be afraid of the BRP bolts. If they can hold a big e-tec, they can handle your motor. Not all stainless bolt are created equal however. The hardware store bolts might work, I just don't know. In my experience the coarse thread stainless bolts tend to gall sometimes when you torque them down. A tiny bit of anti-seize should cure that. jim
Much appreciated guys. Thank you. I just hate to take up either of your time with my bolt issue. I can just have my wife stop by the local marine dealer and pick up 2 6" bolts from them. If they don't fit, I can always return them. My big concern is that I will end up damaging the bolts that are there when I remove them because I used that 3M5200. I may need to heat them up a bit. I'm hoping that my lift ring arrives any day because I want to get this done over the weekend. I plan to take some pictures of the project, as you know I am photo-happy on these things - so I'll post 'em up here... :drink: Thanks again for the help!
No problem here, I am glad to help any way I can. We sure have gotten a lot of mileage out of this little wedge thread. I have never pulled bolts that were in with 5200. I would be tempted to heat them slowly and carefully with a butane torch from both ends if possible. jim
Good advice. Thanks Jim. I now have two Merc. 6" mounting bolts. Still waiting for the lift ring. I'm not done getting milage out of this thread, either. I'm going to post pictures of the wedge installation.
Question: Does the hight of the engine have to be changed if you use the wedge? It looks to me like the engine will not simply slide back (aft) by the distance of the wedge because the engine mounting bracket has a little lip that hangs down on the front (forward) side of the transom. That looks like it will prevent me from simply moving the engine back using the same mounting holes. Anyone?
It needs to be raised a little. When the cav plate is parallel to the bottom it should be even or slightly above the bottom. The wedge actually brings it down slightly. With the motor all the way in, the cav plate will probably touch the water about half way back on the plate. jim
