Quick,easy, chep & permanant repair for VP 200 Series tilt lock Mech

I found an easy way to fix the ever present breaking off of the tilt pin on the volvo 200 series non trim drives.......I went to Home depot and bought the following items:

A) Two 1/8" female coupling made by Watts part # A-706
I cut it in half to make two threaded nuts.....

B) Two 1/8" brass nipples made by WATTS part # A-717 I cut a slot from the end through the threads and then threaded the two nuts mentioned above loosly on to each end of the nipple. I made two of these, one for each drive.

C) a length of stainless round stock ( I think it's 5/16 diameter, the same diameter as the broken tilt pin) I cut it to the proper length, drilled and tapped it to a 10-1.6 thread ( the same as the threads on the tilt rod)......and screwed it onto the threaded end.

I cut the tilt rod about half way through the longest straight section that runs along the drive just above the tilt locking mechanism and I cut another 1/2" piece off. Then I slid the assembly onto the lower half of the rod. inserted the new pin into its hole at the top.....lined up the other end of the rod where I cut it and slid the assembly half wayback so that the ends of the rod I cut were in the middle of the assembly, I put a wrench on each nut of the assembly & turned them untill tight......

It works fine.....now if it happens again I can effect a repair while the boat is still in the water, however with this assembly the worst case is that instead of the pin breaking, leaving the 1/2" gap in the middle of the assembly the rod will move further into the assembly and all I have to do is readjust the rod again.......

At the risk of breaking my own arm patting myself on the back, this repair is outstanding and the total investment in parts is about $4.00

I think I deserve an attaboy, brownie point or something...........John in Michigan