So...good news ..bad news.
Got the Seastar HS5176 Helm Seal Kit & Seastar HA5438 Filler Tube & Seal Pick Tool....very nice kit includes a tool for removing o-rings and includes a filler hose kit which would be $20 on its own
Had a hard time removing the steering wheel. Could not get a puller behind it. had to cut the plastic bezel.
Got the wheel off. No corrosion. The PO used black tape on the shaft and it was caught on the woodruff key.
Removing the helm went great. It was leaking from the front shaft seal
Disassembly went great. Looked great inside although fluid looked like crap. Replaced all o-rings easy peasy.
Pistons looked great. Slide valve looked great. Bearings looked great.
As I was putting it back together there is a step where you have to compress the pistons and get it all together without things falling out of place.
here's the bad news...
It slipped in my hand and I pushed down hard...2 pistons got jammed in the rotor. Made one worse trying to get it out.
There is no fixing without destroying the 2 pistons and replacing them.
I don't have the time or patience for that so off to West Marine I went. Got $680 price match for a new Classic Tilt 1.7 helm.
I have bagged & boxed the old 1.7 tilt helm. I will try to get something for it on eBay. If anyone is interested let me know.
It includes the older Traditional Tilt mechanism (except the plastic bezel needs replacing $60 new) and all of the parts, springs, balls. new o-rings are in place..
Its at least worth a $100 core fee for a rebuilt helm with a bonus of getting the tilt mechanism.
Here are some pix below. I will package it up and weigh it for shipping.
