Had fun replacing my motorwell transom drain tubes yesterday and today. I used a large screw driver like a chisel and bent the tube flares on the outside of the transom inward, then a screw driver pounded straight into the transom along the outer edge of the old tubes. Once I got them bent in enough I was able to push them into the motor well and removed them. The flares on the inboard side were corroded and failed. Grady used some sealant like 5200 and that kept water out of the transom. The transom looked great, thankfully. Last night I mixed up a little slow set epoxy to coat the inner core of the transom holes. I taped over the inside holes and taped around the outside of the outer holes and made a catch basin from tape under the holes. I used a toothbrush to apply the epoxy inside the holes and set up some halogen lights close to the two holes to set up the epoxy over night (it's still cold here).
This morning, I dremel sanded the holes just enough for the tubes to slide in the holes. I measured and cut the tubes, greased them and the transom holes with 5200, and inserted them from the outside (they wouldn't go in from the inside of the transom due to clearance). I acquired a grady flare tool and with the help of my son flared the tubes. When I first measured the tubes I found that the holes through the transom weren't square to the transom. This was a big problem. The flare tool is a bolt with two collared flare bits. If the hole through the transom isn't exactly perpendicular to the transom face, one edge of each side of the brass tube will flare up against the transom but leaving much of the rest of the flare standing out from the transom. Because the collar on the flare bits fits the inner diameter of the tubes precisely, it was impossible to fully seat the full circumference of the flared tube against the transom with the flare kit. To finish off the flare job, I had to use several different makeshift tools with the aid of a hammer to pound the flare flush to the transom.
The flare kit is very helpful to get the right shape of the tube flare. It would of been nice if the transom holes were square to the transom so the flare kit could have done the whole job by itself. Hopefully this is the last time I have to do this. I do not see how it is possible to use a ball peen hammer to create a tube flare, make the tube fit snug, and not make it look like a POS. The ball peen hammer will create all kinds of dents in the flare.
This morning, I dremel sanded the holes just enough for the tubes to slide in the holes. I measured and cut the tubes, greased them and the transom holes with 5200, and inserted them from the outside (they wouldn't go in from the inside of the transom due to clearance). I acquired a grady flare tool and with the help of my son flared the tubes. When I first measured the tubes I found that the holes through the transom weren't square to the transom. This was a big problem. The flare tool is a bolt with two collared flare bits. If the hole through the transom isn't exactly perpendicular to the transom face, one edge of each side of the brass tube will flare up against the transom but leaving much of the rest of the flare standing out from the transom. Because the collar on the flare bits fits the inner diameter of the tubes precisely, it was impossible to fully seat the full circumference of the flared tube against the transom with the flare kit. To finish off the flare job, I had to use several different makeshift tools with the aid of a hammer to pound the flare flush to the transom.
The flare kit is very helpful to get the right shape of the tube flare. It would of been nice if the transom holes were square to the transom so the flare kit could have done the whole job by itself. Hopefully this is the last time I have to do this. I do not see how it is possible to use a ball peen hammer to create a tube flare, make the tube fit snug, and not make it look like a POS. The ball peen hammer will create all kinds of dents in the flare.