Sounds like your shaft didnt fully seat because of the bumper. when you torqued the pump down it pushed your bellow forward off of the through hull fitting which I think maybe you had a leak coming from the rearward side of the bellow, also this probably messed with the carbon ring as that needs tension (IMO) of course. I would try some epoxy around your current THF if you dont want to get a new one and see what that does. you should only have 1 c clip (I forget the correct name) on your shaft so I'm not sure what you are referring to. hose clamps are cheap, zip ties in some places are ok like the PTO boot if you monitor them regularly I've had them on my gsx for months and never an issue. The grooves in the shaft are ok but point to an alignment issue possibly caused by shredded bumper and torqued pump (I think). if that's true. make sure your shaft isn't bent for one, and if possible do an engine alignment. If it was misaligned enough to groove a ss dshaft, then there is a chance you hour glassed the carbon ring and ss hat.
