And so it begins...HBW50 rebuild

Jun 19, 2004
365
Island Packet IP 32 99 Forked River, NJ
Yesterday I started the process of removing the HBW50 transmission from our M28OI. The fuel tank and exhaust elbow are now out. Good thing! The raw water inlet is almost completely clogged. Now I can climb in under the cockpit and get to the transmission and prop shaft.
Current plan is to rebuild the transmission since the replacement, the ZF12 would be too long. Many posts about the quality of the HBW50, but I'm hoping I can get this right.
I welcome your comments - good or bad...
 

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Jun 19, 2004
365
Island Packet IP 32 99 Forked River, NJ
OMG!! I sure hope it doesn't come to that. Maybe I should've given this a different title?
 
Jun 19, 2004
365
Island Packet IP 32 99 Forked River, NJ
Finally got the transmission removed last weekend! Here are some pics...
Now I need a week or so to recuperate from stuffing myself into the engine compartment!
Some one recently asked about how to remove the tranny...as you can see in photo #2, it entails the removal of the trans, rear mounts and bell housing as a single unit.
The 1st pic is the water inlet to the exhaust elbow after about 500 hrs run time in salt water. The unit is a cast iron unit by Barr Marine.
 

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Jun 19, 2004
365
Island Packet IP 32 99 Forked River, NJ
OK folks! Here we go....
I spent HOURS trolling the Interweb for info on parts for this transmission. Looks like most companies offer the ALTA replacement parts; but the 3 rebuilders that I spoke to think they're junk. Maine Sail had some interesting comments about this on the Cruisers Forum about 6 years ago (Thanks for that Maine Sail!:clap:). don't recall where I found the reference, but I ended up speaking to Jim at Federal Marine in Illinois. What a wealth of knowledge there! Anyway, it looks like they have a direct line to ZF company and he's getting us original factory parts: clutch discs, thrust washer, gaskets, shims, etc... It's gonna take a few weeks, but since we're on the hard until spring, no worries there.
Getting ready to crack open the case today, so I'll try to document the progress with pics as we go. Stay tuned!...
 
Jun 19, 2004
365
Island Packet IP 32 99 Forked River, NJ
I took the liberty of copying Maine Sail's pic to illustrate what is (correct me if I'm wrong here, please!) wrong with using aftermarket parts. I haven't had a chance to crack open the case, but I'm anxious to find out if the thrust washer is the primary cause of slippage in forward. I'm reaching here, but I don't suppose anyone knows what the nominal thickness should be?
 

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