Remote control cable hook-up for pre-1979 outboards

[Shell Kottkamp]

Greetings, I posted a few months back my frustration with the OMC cable brackets, pre-1979 cables,  as I found it extremely difficult to get a set of 4 new Teleflex cables to fit the metal brackets for a dual 1950’s outboard set-up.   I have recently discovered there appears to be two different size cable metal brackets.  The recent set of metal cable brackets I just installed on a 1957 Evinrude have a wider gap and the Teleflex cables went on easy, where as my earlier experience with the brackets that had a smaller gap I found myself having to force the cables to fit and bending out the brackets.  My question is are there different size brackets for a reason?  Earlier versions?  The wider gap is the answer for my experience as by forcing the cables I slightly damaged the plastic housing on brand new cables.  Thanks in advance.

[Waunnaboat]

I would guess that the cable size generally changed over time due to the need for stronger steering cables.  Higher horsepower engines probably require heavier-duty cables, and if you are talking about OMC motors in particular, they probably started to use stronger cable adapters as standard to cut back on the cost of producing different cable brackets for different horsepower as the largest HP engines increased in size over time.  If you are concerned about the cables being too wide, there are likely some lighter-duty cables that are designed for other applications that can be adapted.   If possible, pictures or a more specific description of the cable sizes (there are a few diameters from what I have found) and bracket sizes would probably help the folks on this website to help you out better.  I don’t have any outboards with remote steering(unless you count the clothesline on a 1925 ELTO), so I don’t quite know much about this, but those are my two(albeit uneducated) cents.  Best of luck.

"Outboards seem to multiply exponentially..........I find that for every finished project, there are two more waiting to be completed."

[fleetwin]

Shell Kottkamp wrote:

Greetings, I posted a few months back my frustration with the OMC cable brackets, pre-1979 cables,  as I found it extremely difficult to get a set of 4 new Teleflex cables to fit the metal brackets for a dual 1950’s outboard set-up.   I have recently discovered there appears to be two different size cable metal brackets.  The recent set of metal cable brackets I just installed on a 1957 Evinrude have a wider gap and the Teleflex cables went on easy, where as my earlier experience with the brackets that had a smaller gap I found myself having to force the cables to fit and bending out the brackets.  My question is are there different size brackets for a reason?  Earlier versions?  The wider gap is the answer for my experience as by forcing the cables I slightly damaged the plastic housing on brand new cables.  Thanks in advance.

Well, you are correct.  There were a few different size/shapes of these little clamps, it is not as simple as “one part fits all”.  In fact, I “think” the part numbers were different for the port and starboard clamps.  We all just “jammed them in” any old way.  I’m pretty sure these different designs were to make it easy to put the control cable into the clamp while ensuring it would be a snug fit with little or no slop between the clamp and cable trunnion.

https://www.marineengine.com/parts/johnson-evinrude-accessories/index.php?year=1975&model=Remote+Control+1975&section=Remote+Control+Single+Motor&yid=34216&mid=34221&sid=35946

[outbdnut2]

The older, 1950s, OEM remote control cables had brass  hardware that went in those cable brackets you are talking about, and those brass pieces were shaped different than the plastic ones, so the optimum size of the bracket was different.  Photo below.

Dave

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