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Need WD-3S Drive Gears

I need the drive shaft gear and propeller shaft gear to finish up the mechanicals on my WD-3S if anyone has them or knows of a source. Thanks in advance.
Gary

Re: Need WD-3S Drive Gears

Gary,

Try Doug Penn (Douglas.Penn@gmail.com). Great guy and if he doesn't have it, he'll try to help you find it. His website is penn.itgo.com. I've done lots of business with Doug and have always been satisfied.

JP

Re: Need WD-3S Drive Gears

Kiekhaefer Corporation makers of Mercury outboards also made outboards for Western Auto for sale under
the Wizard brand (1940 to 1957) All of the singles
K thru WD3/KE3 used same gear set
12 tooth on drive shaft and 22 tooth on prop shaft
Used gears are best used as a set. If the bronze
bushings in gear case or drive shaft housing are
worn replace with good used.

Twins of same era K thru WD4/KD4 use a different
gear set 14/19 which need a bronze washer above
drive shaft gear and two steel shims behind prop
shaft gear. I have found the washer and shims
rarely present...without the washer and shims
the gears are too loose...gear noise and rapid
wear...not good

I have found twins gear set in a single and it
is possible to go the other way also. BUT the
gears can not be mixed...will not mesh properly
...not even close.
It may not require a press to force gear off prop shaft BUT getting a new gear on and lined up
with 3/16" hole for pin does AND you may have to
press on and off several times to get it spot on.
Louis
Best source of parts is a parts motor of which there
are more than a few around. There are even some
new old stock parts available now and then.
Hope this rambling is useful to you.

Re: Need WD-3S Drive Gears

Worked on a KD4 today which is similar to WD4
Water pump housing phillips head screw buggered up
Used GraBit and out it came...reluctantly.
Inside I found the two steel shims AHEAD of gear
on prop shaft...the bronze washer on drive shaft as usual was awol.
The steel shims were somewhat rusty so I shined them
up and "miked" their total at 0.022" plus or minus
O.D. 1" I.D. 0.500" Does anyone have dimensions
of the bronze shim? Not a big job to make once
thickness and O.D known.
It is possible I am mistaken as to where shims are
located in relation to gears(ahead or behind & above
or below) Once I have a set it shoulc be no problem
to determing by trial and error method.
Louis

Re: Need WD-3S Drive Gears

Thank you all for your willingness to help and to you jpatti for providing Doug's contact info. I've already been in touch with him and depending on weather conditions (barn snowed in) he will be getting back with me on the parts I need.Thank you also Louis for the information you provided. I was aware of the Mercury KD/Wizard WD relationship but didn't know that the gear sets in the singles and twins would interchange so that's another option if all else fails. I'm certainly thankful for the ability to obtain help and information via this forum and even more, appreciate the ones who freely share their knnowledge. Thank you.

Re: Need WD-3S Drive Gears

Kiekhaefer did some strange things...the reasoning
behind the interchangable gear sets is fuzzy.Except
for 1940 models singles and twins thru KD & KE3
all delivered rated hp at 4000 rpm...driving
same water pump and propeller at (4000x12/22= 2218.18 for singles) and (4000x14/19=2947.3rpm for twins)
Lets say 2220 rpm and 2950 rpm...one has to wonder
if water pump was speeded up to deliver enough
cooling water for two cylinders...one thing certain
efficiency of propeller was compromised...the only
three blace propeller ever used with the K Model
was on a derated KE4A...go figure.
The single can be used with twin gear set (be sure
to use the required shims) BUT the single might
be in over its head trying to hit 4000 rpm
and drive prop at 2950 rpm unless on very light boat

Re: Need WD-3S Drive Gears

Ran out of space to finish above...
The problem with using single 12/22 gear set with
a twin is engine will not be loaded heavily enough
by propeller so engine will tend to overspeed
on the other hand slower turning waterpump may not be supplying enough cooling water for two cylinders...
One thing for certain, Kiekhaefer got a lot of use
from MB209 propeller.
Michigan Wheel offered four(K15,16,17 & 19)propellers for Wizard twins (and K8 for singles)
Louis

Re: Need WD-3S Drive Gears

I may seem to be answering my own questions...
Noticed a couple 14 tooth gears were
taller than the other 14 tooth gears so I measured
them...short gear is 0.595 thick while the tall
gears are 0.685" thick...it seems reasonable to
assume that the bronze spacer should be about the
difference of the two gears or about o.090" thick
apparently somewhere in production the drive shaft
14 tooth gear was made thicker to eliminate
need for spacer...another of Kiekhaefer's little
changes that made product easier to make and cheaper without reducing product quality.
Some gears appear to made of stainless steel...bright
gray not rusted...probably not a bad idea for a wet
environment, not sure stainless steel is a good choice for a gear though.
Louis

Re: Need WD-3S Drive Gears

Thanks again louis for bringing these increment details to the attention of forum members. I have a parts manual for my WD-3S and it just doesn't go into this kind of detail so some thing are just left up to those that are stuck in the middle to find out. That's where sharing this kind of information is so crucial to restoring these outboards correctly and what better source than to find out from individuals who have alread been there. Thanks so much for contributing your knowledge of the subject.

Gary

Re: Need WD-3S Drive Gears

For those that might be interested...as I now understand the Twins gear case shims and spacer...
Steel Shim is installed above bronze spacer on drive shaft and steel shims are installed ahead of
gear on propeller shaft IF needed to give
0.005" gear lash which I assume is fore and
aft movement of prop shaft with water pump housing
installed. McMaster Carr lists steel shims in
a range of thickness so that by selection of shims slack can be taken out leaving desire gear lash...
Bronze spacer and steel shim can be checked with
feeler gage and same 0.005" probably okay there too.
At Great Lakes AOMCI meet today a restored 1940 Wizard WA2 was on display and won a ribbon. The early
Wizards, Mercurys and Sea Kings made by Kiekhaefer
are prized and often restored to showroom fresh
and they do collect their share of ribbons.
Louis