Reply To: Evinrude Model R locking transom clamp

[Tom]

They can be rebuilt, I’ve done a few of them on N’s, R’s and T’s. Carefully drill out the cylinder, but don’t nick the nickel plated retaining ring. Break up what’s left and extract it. Plan on this taking a LOT of time. Then remove the ring which is just staked in place. There is a spring loaded rod at the back of the hole, which moves up and down as the cylinder was rotated with a key. You’ll need to remove the transom screw, and get the rod to drop out of the hole in the bottom of the transom clamp. Once that is all freed up, you’ll need to find a replacement cylinder and key. I’ve used cylinders from office furniture. You will need to shape the back of the cylinder with an offset circle to move the rod up and down. When all is fitted, replace the retaining ring.  See the crude diagram and an example of what the cylinder looks like.