1969 4hp Merc shifter handle

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  • crosbyman

    Canada Member - 2 Years
    Replies: 3588
    Topics: 326
    #252867

    when I reassembled my 4hp after the impeller job things got confusing shifter wise.

    should the shifter be positionned horizontally for neutrel…FWD being UP and reverse being DOWN

    or should the shifter be vertical 90 degrees …in that scenario putting the shifter handle towards the front puts the engine in reverse which is illogical

    and if I push the lever to the back the engine (gears) goes forward mode

    I have looked at a couple of utbes and seen ….

    a) horizontal = neutral UP = forward down = reverse which is ok I guess

    b) Vertical = neutral forward = forward back = reverse

    which should it be….?

    Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

    • This topic was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by crosbyman.

    billw

    US Member - 2 Years
    Replies: 2071
    Topics: 66
    #252892

    Like so many Mercury things, there was a change at some point in time; so the handles can be found to operate either way. Earlier ones had the handle horizontal, with up being forward and down being reverse. Later ones had the handle vertical in neutral, with the more intuitive forward movement being forward and back being reverse. This change was made easily, because all they had to do was flip the shift cam in the lower unit over, so instead of facing to port, it faced to starboard or vs versa, I forget. If your engine would shift into forward if a vertical handle was moved aft, then your handle should be positioned horizontally in neutral.

    Long live American manufacturing!

    • This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by billw.

    crosbyman

    Canada Member - 2 Years
    Replies: 3588
    Topics: 326
    #252894

    I had removed the shifter handle to properly apply a strip of new chrome tape all around the cowl and since it had rubbed off the original tape over the years due to side friction I installed a small spacer washer before reasembling everything . I assumed it was vertical to begin with but things took a turn when I installed the LU finding it illogical to push it back to forward propeller wise.

    I rotated the shifter 90 degrees to horizontal and now………… UP is forward and Down is Reverse

    whomever buys that refurbished oldy won’t know the difference 🙂

    thanks for info.

    Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

    • This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by crosbyman.

    billw

    US Member - 2 Years
    Replies: 2071
    Topics: 66
    #252934

    If it wore through the stripe when being in the vertical neutral position, it was probably installed wrong when you first got it. You have it on right, now.Here is a 3.9 that is right.
    https://capecod.craigslist.org/boa/d/west-wareham-39hp-mercury-outboard/7419888150.html

    Long live American manufacturing!

    • This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by billw.

    crosbyman

    Canada Member - 2 Years
    Replies: 3588
    Topics: 326
    #252937

    yep… exactly how I have it now 🙂

    thanks for pics

    btw… U$ prices are crazy… $400 US is about $500 CDN !!! and I paid about 70$…could have been $100 CDN don’t recall exactly
    but in U$…we are talking $60 to $80 for a 4hp Merc1969

    AllI I did was fix the recoil and impeller on it 🙂 gearcase checks out at 15psi and 10psi vacum

    Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

    • This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by crosbyman.
    • This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by crosbyman.

    billw

    US Member - 2 Years
    Replies: 2071
    Topics: 66
    #252945

    I was just using that example for the pictures. Whoever is trying to sell that motor is insane. They will never get $400 for that around here, in a million years. Maybe $100 if he was lucky. There is a guy also on Cape Cod Craigslist trying to sell an Evinrude Super Fastwin that has probably seen salt. It’s like, 1953 vintage, or so. He started out asking $800. I wrote him and said, you know, I don’t mean to be rude but if you brought that to a gathering of antique outboard enthusiasts, you couldn’t get $50 for it. He wrote back and said, thank you for your opinion. He relisted it for $300; and it has been on there for at least a year now, unsold. There is a lot of that on our local CL. I don’t really understand it. I guess they are waiting for that one sucker.

    Long live American manufacturing!

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