Drop It Right
August 16, 2024
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THE AUTO BUILDER
Featured
Nostalgia Rod
Old-style rods, nostalgia rods and rat rods are increasing in popularity across America, and we are beginning to see a growing number of them at car shows outside California, where the movement seems to have set strong roots. These styles are generally seen in large numbers at shows such as NHRA’s Hot Rod Reunion (in Bakersfield), the West Coast Kustoms Show (in Paso Robles) and even the L.A. Roadster show (in Pomona). For the last two years there has been a special room for such cars at the Detroit Autorama (held at Cobo Hall), and this year was the biggest display yet.
JET-AWESOME
We’ve seen lots of cool, stout VWs over the years, but only a few awesome Jettas have made us do a double- and triple-take, which is just what happened when we first caught a glimpse of Todd Sollar’s awesome wide-body Jetta. Our mindset went from “damn” to “wow” about that quickly.
Products That Caught Our Eye at PRI 2025
The 2025 PRI Show in Indianapolis was a full-throttle showcase of performance automotive products, from street-ready upgrades to extreme race tech. We hit the floor to highlight the booths, parts, and builds that really stood out—gear that makes engines breathe better, weld stronger, and deliver reliable horsepower with precision.
Spotlighter
Straight Shooter
Installing An IMCO Stern Advantage External Hydraulic Steering System
Author
Bob Carpenter
Words & Photography
Performance boats that use standard steering are prone to experience gimbal ring wear. This is when the steering shaft wears out, and it leads to a certain amount of wandering when the boat is at high speeds. Fixing this malady is not cheap; you can expect to pay somewhere around $1,500 for a rebuild.
Now if you’re running a performance boat with standard steering and it has worn out, it’s time to make an intelligent decision. MerCruiser recommends that any boat that is going to be driven over 70 mph has an external hydraulic steering system, and it is not being conservative. MerCruiser’s exact words (taken from a 2000 installation manual) are that “it is virtually impossible to give a specific recommendation as to when external power steering should be used, as this varies from boat design to boat design. Mercury MerCruiser recommends using external power steering on boats that operate in excess of 70 mph. There are boats which operate at 60 mph that would benefit from the use of external power steering.” In our minds, if it’s time to rebuild a standard steering system, it’s really time to upgrade to an external hydraulic steering system, which costs approximately $3,500 (parts and labor). The bottom line is that the improvement in high-speed stability can be dramatic on some boats, and it’s worth every penny it costs to have it installed.
IMCO’s Stern Advantage is the perfect example of a retrofit kit that will bail a boat owner out of a bad situation and allow him to end up with a safer, better performing boat. Maveric Marine invited us to watch its crew install a Stern Advantage on a Nordic 28 that was in the shop for repairs, and we jumped at the chance. This Nordic has a 496 Mag HO with a Bravo One X in it, and the owner understood that the worn out steering problem wasn’t going to go away, so the external hydraulic steering system made a lot of sense.
IMCO’s kit includes everything you need, including the hydraulic steering arms, mounts, hoses, fittings, hardware and rear cover (for the driveshaft housing) with provisions for mounting the steering arms.
IMCO’s Stern Advantage kit provides everything needed to convert a boat over to power steering and allows you to say good bye to shaky steering control at high speeds.
Nordic 28 has a 496 Mag HO engine and can often find itself at the 70mph mark. With the worn out stock steering system, it can be a handful to drive.
Maveric’s Dan Duffin measures the transom per IMCO’s instructions.
Duffin checks to see that line is level and at the crankshaft centerline.
This is trick: the template that IMCO provides is a sticker.
Here’s a good look at the template.
uses an automatic centerpunch to make sure that the drills will be centered perfectly.
You need to check to see if you are going to be drilling through something that’s on the inside part of the transom. Duffin measures from that “something” that goes through the transom (in this case a hold down) and then makes the same measurement from inside the boat.
Duffin looks from the inside of the boat, checking for objects that are in the way.
Start out all holes with a 3/16-inch pilot hole. Run the drill backward until it is through the gel coat to prevent cracking.
When switching to larger drills, remember to run them backward until you make it through the gel coat.
After all the holes are drilled, the template can be removed.
Resin is mixed up and will be applied to the fresh holes so that water doesn’t penetrate into the transom. Duffin made a stick with grooves in it to get the resin into holes.
A couple of passes with the stick fully covers the holes with resin.
stock Brazil control valve is used, but a new manifold is installed with adapters.
The new manifold uses the existing O-ring. Make sure it’s still there.
Duffin installs the manifold over the shaft.
The rear cap is removed from the drive. Two new holes will need to be drilled into the drive for mounting the new cap.
is used to cover up the opening. You don’t want any metal shavings going into your drive; that would be bad.
IMCO provides a template, but Maveric Marine goes one step further. Maveric bought IMCO’s drilling jig to ensure that the holes are spot-on perfect.
The hole has to be drilled 1-1/4-inch deep. Duffin bottoms out the drill and then measures that depth.
The instructions call for WD-40 as a lubricant while drilling.
Duffin put tape on the drill so he’d know exactly how far in to go.
tapping (or cutting) fluid on the tap.
Duffin taps the holes.
Quicksilver Bellows Adhesive is applied to the Mercury 0-ring.
The O-ring is installed on the new cap.
The ball and spring (officially called the ball detent canister) from the original cap are removed and installed in the new cap.
Duffin puts the cap in place on the back of the driveshaft housing.
Loctite is used on the bolts.
Duffin threads the mounting bolts into the cap.
The bolts are torqued to 35 ft-lbs.
Seal (for underwater use) is spread around each bolt and the two hydraulic flare fittings on the steering mount. This mount is bolted to the transom.
lines up the bolts and hydraulic fittings and slides the mount into place.
Washers and nuts are attached from inside the boat.
Duffin holds the bolt heads with his wrench, the nuts are tightened from inside the boat.
The steering cylinder is placed into the mount.
The hinge pin is slid into position.
Two wrenches are used to tighten the hinge pin.
The hydraulic hoses are threaded on. They go in a very specific order so the instructions must be consulted.
Duffin tightens the hose with an open-end wrench.
Next, the hoses are attached to the hydraulic cylinder.
Duffin tightens the hose on the cylinder.
This T-fitting goes onto the hydraulic fittings inside the boat.
The T is screwed onto the fitting.
A wrench is used to tighten both T-fittings.
Hydraulic hose is attached to the pump.
Hydraulic hose is attached to the pump.
Another hose is attached to the T and run under the engine and over to the other side. Essentially, when one side pushes, the other side pulls.
The hoses are all tightened. The same steps are repeated for the upper T.
Duffin puts the drive back on the boat. It doesn’t have to be removed to install the steering, but it’s easier. The oil does have to be drained out of the drive when you do this, though.
The hydraulic cylinder is guided into the mount.
The hinge pin is dropped into the mount.
Duffin tightens the hinge pin with a Nylok nut on the bottom.
Here’s the finished steering system ready to hit the water and discover steering steadiness at high speed.
ARTICLE SOURCES
Manufacturer
IMCO NV
703 Wells Road
Boulder City, NV 89005
(702) 294-3030
Manufacturer
Maveric Marine
14832 Calvert St.
Van Nuys, CA 91411
(818) 989-4445
