Mounting system for a rear steering assembly of a marine outboard engine

A marine outboard engine comprising:

• a cowling having at least one rear panel at a rear end of the cowling, the at least one rear panel defining an opening therethrough;
• a power head disposed inside the cowling;
• a driveshaft housing disposed at least in part inside the cowling below the power head;
• a driveshaft disposed in the driveshaft housing;
• an exhaust housing disposed at least in part inside the cowling below the power head;
• an engine block adapter disposed below the power head and rigidly fixed thereto, the driveshaft housing and the exhaust housing being disposed below the engine block adapter and rigidly connected thereto;
• a plurality of mount points disposed inside the cowling, each mount point being rigidly connected to the power head and having a bracket-mounting hole defined therein,
• the bracket-mounting holes being disposed in at least one of the power head, the engine adapter block, the exhaust housing and the driveshaft housing;
• and
• a tie-bar bracket having a mounting portion at a first end and a tie-bar coupling portion at a second end opposite the first end,
• the mounting portion of the tie-bar bracket having tie-bar holes formed therein, the tie-bar holes coinciding with the bracket-mounting holes of the mount points,
• the tie-bar bracket being mounted to the mount points by a threaded fastener received in the tie-bar and coinciding bracket-mounting holes,
• the tie-bar bracket extending through the opening in the at least one rear panel, and
• the tie-bar coupling portion extending outside the cowling rearward of the cowling,
• for each coinciding bracket-mounting hole and tie-bar hole, at least one of the bracket-mounting hole and the tie-bar hole being a through-hole.

A method of assembling a tie-bar bracket in a marine outboard engine, the marine outboard engine comprising:

• a cowling having at least one rear panel at a rear end of the cowling;
• a power head disposed inside the cowling;
• and
• a plurality of mount points disposed inside the cowling, each mount point being rigidly connected to the power head and having formed therein a bracket-mounting hole,
• the at least one rear panel having defined therein a visual indication of an area to be removed to create an opening adapted for receiving therethrough a tie-bar bracket mounted on and extending from the mount points;
• the method comprising:
• removing the at least one rear panel from the cowling;
• inserting the tie-bar bracket inside the cowling, the tie-bar bracket comprising a mounting portion and a tie-bar coupling portion opposite the mounting portion, the mounting portion having formed therein tie-bar holes corresponding with the bracket-mounting holes of the mount points;
• aligning the tie-bar holes of the tie-bar bracket with the bracket-mounting holes of the mount points;
• fastening the tie-bar bracket by inserting threaded fasteners into the tie-bar holes and the corresponding bracket-mounting holes of the mount points;
• creating an opening in the at least one rear panel at the location having the visual indication, the opening being sized and shaped to receive therethrough the coupling portion of a tie-bar bracket;
• inserting the tie-bar coupling portion through the opening;
• and
• mounting the at least one rear panel on the cowling.