Need a steering Cable Extension

[taxiken]

I had to change engines from a 1980 Mercury to a 1971 Evinrude 50 H.P. Forced to change cable. Original boat steering cable was 11 foot through the engine tube. I am installing a splash well mount that was used with the Evinrude. Did the measurements and ordered a 10 foot rack cable. Installed it and it was too long and the excess cable hung out the side of the boat (15 foot Eldocraft aluminum bass boat) and there is no place to bend the slack cable into. I then replaced the 10 foot cable with a 9 foot and it is too short. I need a six inch extension, Also the new cable travel is only 8 3/8 inches and the cable connection point in the center of the engine travels 11 1/4 inches from far left turn to far right turn. Is it normal to loose turning radius with cable installation and are cable extensions made?

 

[Watermann]

I don't know of anything like that, you always round up to the next foot in length for steering cables. 6" of slack should be easy to take up over 10'.

 

[taxiken]

I have a picture of the 10 foot cable installed and the excess cable hanging outside the boat when the splash well mount is where it needs to be to keep the cable inside the boat. If I get the cable inside the boat, then the splash well hardware and cable ends up in front of engine and is in the way of the engine being tilted and the cable end is past where it connects to the engine. What about the cable travel not being long enough to keep from losing turning radius? Is it normal to sacrifice turning radius? Still unable to post picture....still only my second post.

 

[roscoe]

So the problem isn't that the cable is too long.
Problem is that the splash well hardware and the cable radius are tooling for the width of the boat.
Either the cable will need to hang over the edge of the boat, or you will need a newer engine that will use a tilt tube type steering cable like the previous one.

OR, the best alternative, buy a bigger boat !

If you want to post the photo, just make several posts about something, anything, and you should be able to upload the image.

 

[taxiken]

This is my 3rd post. Hopefully I will send photos with the next one.

 

[taxiken]

417 shows the 10 foot cable attached to tiller and extra cable over the side of the boat. If I force the cable in to the corner then the cable has to go under the front of the motor and the cable end is about 6 inches past tiller connection hole. The channel that the cables and electrical run in is about 4 inches wide not leaving enough room to bend in slack to take up extra cable length.
457 shows 9 foot cable angle and splashwell mount held in place temporarily with a c-clamp. Angle can be adjusted by wood spacer between splashwell mount and transom.
459 cable in middle of travel and the motor is straight. 458 is a closeup of 459.
460 is cable fully contracted for a left turn.
461 is cable fully extended for a right turn.

 

[GA_Boater]

Set up 458, loosen the clamp bolt in the bottom of 460 and move the clamp tube until the cable can be connected. There is a rust mark on the tube in 457 where the tube was originally, a good place to start.

 

[taxiken]

The rust mark is from where the evinrude was originally installed on a 15 fabuglass. Image 417 is the only image of the 10 foot cable. The other images are of the 9 foot cable and there is zero slack. Thanks.