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In my down time of trying to source shorter brass nipples I was able to hammer out a nice mount for the hydraulic pump.

I was having a Hell of a time trying to locate the pump in a good spot that it was able to be accessed, able to add fluid as needed, and to protect the hoses from potential damage.

I decided to piggy back off the trim pump mount.

The only bracket they included for mounting the hydraulic pump was a piece of plastic in the shape of a "U". The bracket is mortised and the pump slides into it. You then tighten the 4 mounting screws and call it good.

I couldn't find a good location to install it along with finding a way to easily add fluid. Not to mention I don't really trust the slightly heavy pump (without any fluid in it yet) to be hanging off a piece of plastic.

So i made a mount out of an old SS kick plate we had in the scrap bin. Cut a 1/4" plexiglass spacer to take up the space under the pump reservoir and riveted it to the mount.

Now this pump is fully supported and should be in a pretty ideal spot for service along with hydraulic hose protection.

Fast forward to now, I failed to include a location for the pump wires to exit in my mount. They provided a channel in the back to route the ground and control wires.

I will need to address this problem immediately.

Here's the pump sitting in her mount.

Bolted my mount to the trim pump plate.

Installed a piece of HDPE on the side of my bracket and siliconed to the bottom of the hull to give the pump full support from bouncing in rough seas.

Took the opportunity to really clean up the the gel coat while the out drive was off and the trim plates aren't installed yet.

Rubbing compound, oxidation remover, high gloss polish, cleaner wax, and wax. I put a lot of time into just cleaning up this part of the boat that no one will ever see, but that's just me...


Came out pretty good. First pic for comparison.

For trim tab installation, they recommend epoxy resin on the mounting screws. So I cleaned out the mounting holes after all the waxing/buffing with Acetone and some Q tips.

Used the Q tip to pre-fill the holes with epoxy resin.

Coated the threads of the mounting screws with the epoxy and started installing them starting at one end and working my way to the other. (Remember that aluminum plate can cause you problems if you don't) Just snugging them first.

Once they were all installed and I tested the trim tab operation, I started to tighten them all.

***Caution**** Remember those last 3 screws do not have the aluminum plate backing, so don't over-torque those and strip the fiberglass.

I didn't take pics of the actual epoxy and install as it has a short working time, and i had epoxy on my hands making things a mess.

But you get the idea of what needs to be done.

Nice job X. You even used the Bennett sport tabs with dual rams. You don’t see those too often on Cobalts.
Great pics.
...and thanks for documenting this.

***NOTE**** I just remembered. Be sure to have everything layed out and ready to go before mixing the epoxy. You don't want to be scrambling looking for something while the stuff is setting up. I always end up messing things up when I get rushed. So take your time to lay everything out first, so everything is nearby and things go smooth.

The upper actuator holes are to be sealed with a marine grade silicone.

For this step I just applied liberal amounts of silicone directly to the actuator around the bolt holes, around the sensor wire, and around the brass nipple.

I then cover the end of the pipe with blue tape to protect foreign material from getting into the system.

I also pre-filled the mounting holes with epoxy and covered the mounting screws with epoxy.

So in theory, the mounting holes are filled with epoxy, and everything has a silicone seal to keep water out.

Install the actuators and tighten down the screws. DO not over-torque them. It's just fiberglass at this point and can be stripped easily if using power tools.

AsLan7 wrote: Mon Jan 04, 2021 11:47 am Nice job X. You even used the Bennett sport tabs with dual rams. You don’t see those too often on Cobalts.
Great pics.
...and thanks for documenting this.

Thank you.

I'll be getting to those dual rams in just a bit.

So now this is where the fun begins....

With everything on the outside complete, we move our attention to the inside.

Remove the tape from the brass nipples and install teflon tape to the threads. Should be at least 3 full revolutions of tape installed. It's not real easy to do with all the stuff installed in the engine compartment and the static cling of the tape doesn't want to cooperate.

Go ahead and finger tighten the brass 90* fittings. You don't want to tighten anything yet.

It's at this time you will want to mock up your hydraulic hose routing.

The hose they supply is a rigid plastic that wants to stay in a coil shape, and you do not want to kink the hose. Really makes for a PITA to work with.

They supply you with a "T" fitting for tying the 2 actuators together. It's really up to you how to figure it out as they provide you with no pictures whatsoever in the instructions of how to do this.

Another one of the major complaints on this system is the dual rams being so close, a "T" fitting, with this rigid hose you're trying to not kink.

I really think Bennett could have come up with a better "T" fitting (at least for my application)

If you look at that first picture, you can see I had to enter the "T" at some point at a 90* with the hose. Remember, that hose does not want to bend, and you do not want to kink it.

Had I turned the "T" 1/4 turn more, I would have to had both hoses enter the "T" at a 90.

This is where a picture would have been helpful to see how they expected you to do this.

Or for me at least, having (2) 90* turns off the ends of the "T" would have been ideal. I could have had both hoses coming from the actuators going straight into the "T" with the third outlet facing up. BOOM, easy peasy. but NOOOO..........

There's just enough room for the "T" to fit between the brass nipples. (ideal) But no way to install it and the hose.

AND, AND, AND remember..... you do not want that brass nipple to turn any more as you might possibly strip the plastic threads. Which leads me to think there is no way this system isn't going to leak on me. As I'm trying to orient the hose into an acceptable manner, I see the stiffness of the hose is actually unthreading (loosening) the brass nipple. So I then retighten it by hand and am now turning more than it originally was according to the marks I made on the nipple to get exactly 2 full turns.

Once you have figured out the best course for you, it's time to tighten up the fittings.

Finger tighten the fitting. Mark it so you can stop at exactly 1 full turn after finger tight.

Make sure you are pushed the hose all the way into the fitting you're going to tighten, hold the fitting from spinning with a wrench, and tighten the fitting/cap with the other wrench. All while trying to do this inside the cramped engine bay AND without stripping those plastic threads.

Now route your hoses from the actuator "T"s to the hydraulic pump. Do not kink the hose and it would be ideal to protect it from wearing through any place it makes contact with the hull. And/or strap the hoses to secure them.

Looking at the pump, the left side of the pump is the port side actuator. And the right side looking at it, is the starboard side actuator.

Push the hose all the way into the fittings, finger tighten it, mark it, and tighten it 1 full turn. Do the same for the other.

They give you these neat plastic guards for putting on the hose to protect them from kinking when you do a 90* bend. Figured great, I'll put them on at the pump to give the hoses some protection in case something should roll around inside there and strike the hoses.

I installed them a bit too far back from where I would have like them, so I attempted to slide it into position just about an inch away. SNAP!!!

So I attempted to remove the other and move it over. SNAP!!!!

Look to make my wiring connections and find I failed to cut an opening for the wires to come out of my pump mount.

Then I realize I have been shorted a part from the kit. I am missing the extension between the control unit and the hydraulic pump.

So now you yell a really loud expletive, throw a tool or 3, and wrap it up for the day.

Looking good man! I’d get that silicone out of there and use some 3m 4200 to seal it up.