Two questions relating to lower drive unit? Advice needed

[jakew129]

Hello everyone, i am new to the site and new to owning a boat (not new to boating) I recently purchased a 1999 1800SR with the 4.3L V6 I/O.

Two questions:

The lower fin on the outside drive unit (the fin below the prop) is bent very evenly and smoothly to the left when looking at it from the rear. Is this something i can fix myself, as in with a block of wood and a hammer? or should i take it in somewhere? and what roughly would that cost to fix?

Second, i just purchased Doel Fins, (trim fins) because our old boat had them and it made a world of difference, only i dont quite remember those. Apparently you have to drill holes into the cavitation plate for these fins?...is that something i should be doing on my own?...

I am mechanically proficient, as in i know my way around cars, trucks, bikes, and i have a lot of tools at my disposal...just never worked on boats all that much before, and i always have a problem feeling good about drilling into perfectly good metal, or bending it back...

please, any help would be great

thanks in advance
jake

[seapuppy]

first off...welcome to the zoo....hope you stick around and congrats on the new boat...

now.....the fin should be heated and then carefully bent into proper geometry....to do that take the lower unit off..I'm assuming you have an A1 drive from mercruiser....
now ..there are 6 bolts that hold the lower drive to the upper drive unit...at this time it would also be a good time to replace the impeller....

now for the dolfin.....yes you can drill the holes yourself...but it puts alot of pressure on the cavitation plate that could cause cracking.....I would put trim tabs on it before the dolfin......
however....if you decide the dolfin is the way you want to go..then after you mark and drill the bolt holes...prime and paint with alodine primer and paint black to match......any exposed al. and salt water will cause serious oxidation and corrosion......
just my opinion.....
let us know how it goes......


SP