Codeman
Well-known member
Well I haven't got to do much to my old boat lately but I have got to take it out a few times over the last few weeks. I found that I hated the shifter being on the side of the boat away from the motor and decided to make one like what it should have had on the tiller from day one.
Started out like this. Hated the fact that your back was basically at the shifter while steering.
So I moseyed down to my local farm supply store and gathered up some 5/16" and 1/4" steel rod, and a couple of these 1/4 stop collars.
I have seen what the real shifter is supposed to look like and fashioned mine pretty close to the real thing.
After I bent the rod to shape I threaded the end that goes through the tiller, turns out that the bushings that are made for some of the jet pumps was a perfect fit for the shifter to tiller hole and the 5/16ths rod, nylock nut and you are in business. Well the handle was simple enough so no I need a rod to connect to the factory connection inside the cowl. Turns out that the peg that the cable was to hook too is 1/4" diameter. So I made up a connecting rod. Notice the 1/4 collar that I welded to the end to git the linkage inside.
Then the other collar was welded to the shifter itself.
Well the first shot at the connecting rod turned out to be a little too long so I made it adjustable with these threaded connectors for all thread and a couple of jam nuts. Bingo! Now it fits great.
Well after it was all together I added a shifter knob from and old Ford Tractor that they had on the shelf in the tractor tune up parts so I made it fit. Thats pretty much it. I used the self locking nut so I could set the tension on the shifter itself so it locks the gate on the pump open when running.
I actually found a correct shifter on eBay, but the asking price was kind of steep since Merc doesn't make them any more so I passed and made my own for about $10.
Started out like this. Hated the fact that your back was basically at the shifter while steering.
So I moseyed down to my local farm supply store and gathered up some 5/16" and 1/4" steel rod, and a couple of these 1/4 stop collars.
I have seen what the real shifter is supposed to look like and fashioned mine pretty close to the real thing.
After I bent the rod to shape I threaded the end that goes through the tiller, turns out that the bushings that are made for some of the jet pumps was a perfect fit for the shifter to tiller hole and the 5/16ths rod, nylock nut and you are in business. Well the handle was simple enough so no I need a rod to connect to the factory connection inside the cowl. Turns out that the peg that the cable was to hook too is 1/4" diameter. So I made up a connecting rod. Notice the 1/4 collar that I welded to the end to git the linkage inside.
Then the other collar was welded to the shifter itself.
Well the first shot at the connecting rod turned out to be a little too long so I made it adjustable with these threaded connectors for all thread and a couple of jam nuts. Bingo! Now it fits great.
Well after it was all together I added a shifter knob from and old Ford Tractor that they had on the shelf in the tractor tune up parts so I made it fit. Thats pretty much it. I used the self locking nut so I could set the tension on the shifter itself so it locks the gate on the pump open when running.
I actually found a correct shifter on eBay, but the asking price was kind of steep since Merc doesn't make them any more so I passed and made my own for about $10.
