Re: 1950's Evinrude 35 HP problems any help would be nice
The plate on the side of the exhaust tower is to allow access to a connector that is used to join the upper and lower shift rods. If the gearcase of your motor has been pulled recently, and particulalry if this problem showed up right after that, I would say that the shift rods were not properly inserted and fastened into the link.
Another possibility is that the shift lever in the gearcase has some sort of problem. One way to check this is to drop the gear case from the exhaust tower and shift the gears by grasping the lower shift rod. If the gearcase shifts firmly into forward and reverse (check by holding the driveshaft and turning the prop), chances are that this isn't your problem.
The next possibility is that there is a problem on the opposite end of the shift rod assembly, at the clevis. While I own a couple of these motors, I have never had the need to get into the interior parts in the upper end of the exhaust tower, so I will defer to others on just what the problem might be and how to check for it. Suffice it to say, however, if the top end of the upper shift rid is not connected to the clevis properly, that could be your problem.
The later motors also had a way for the shift handle to be adjusted from the outside of the housing. I frankly don't know if the 50s models had this capability because, once again, I've never had a need to be concerned with the issue. Maybe someone else here can shed some light on the matter.
