Shifter cable and Carpet a Recommendations

[jessb_55]

Need to order a shifter cable and was wondering what the best way of going about knowing what cable I need?! I guess what info is necessary as I'm not even sure what year my engine/boat are?

Also this weekend we ripped out our rotten floor, and are ready for carpet can anyone give me any recommendations on carpet, nothing too cheap but we're definitely not rich either

 

[southkogs]

Howdy and Welcome aboard:

Shift cable may be rather drive dependent: I/O vs. Outboard, vintage and manufacturer. Got any pictures of your rig?

Also, regarding the carpet: sounds like you got the deck done kinda' quick. I'm a little concerned you may not have done it correctly - though I may be completely wrong too, no offense intended.

Depending on the type of carpet you like you can order it right HERE on iBoats. You may also consider going to a vinyl floor or snap in carpet.

 

[jessb_55]

Hi Southkogs, thanks for your response! Currently the boat is about 250 miles away but I'll see if my Dad can send some pics otherwise here are a few from the weekend. As for doing it too quickly does that change your opinion when I tell you we had 3 of us going at it for about 3 hours on Fri night, 11 hours yesterday and about 7 today? It's a ton of work!

My motor is an outboard early 80s I believe 35 hp Evinrude

 

[southkogs]

... As for doing it too quickly does that change your opinion when I tell you we had 3 of us going at it for about 3 hours on Fri night, 11 hours yesterday and about 7 today? It's a ton of work!

I'm certainly no pro at it, so don't mind me in that sense. And I completely assumed a fiberglass sole, which I would also assume requires some curing time. A lot of folks replace with plywood floors and give 'em a good coat of "something" or other and lay some carpet over top. And old glass boats like to rot from the inside out ...

My motor is an outboard early 80s I believe 35 hp Evinrude

Take a look HERE to see if they have your cable.

 

[jessb_55]

No Title

So I checked out Evinrude's website and figured out I have a 1981 motor however I don't see anything on the parts scheme in regards to the steering controls, which I suppose makes sense as the engine didn't necessarily come with them as it was up to the boat manufacturer to put them on right? Therefore do I need to go to Alumacraft? Here are some pics if that's helpful!?!?

 

[southkogs]

I'd just start lookin' HERE at steering stuff. You'll need to get a measurement on your cable, and figure out if you're using (or want to use) rotary or rack & pinion (I'm guessing at rotary with your helm, but don't know).

 

[roscoe]

Shift cables for your Evinrude/OMC are here, They used different types over the years:


http://www.iboats.com/OMC-Control-Cables/dm/cart_id.875080977--session_id.822010892--view_id.243427

 

[bonz_d]

Is that a Lunker SS or Classic? Looks like a Lunker. It most likely had a rotary helm and the cable cover should have a length stamped or printed on it, look closely and you should be able to find it. Then just replace with the same length. The throttle and shift cables are also common and that control box is pretty simple to work on.
What size ply are you using? 5/8" or 3/4" and I hope it's not pressure treated. PT ply does not play well with Aluminum.

Please post up more pictures as you go as I've got a Classic 16 that I hope to be starting on soon and besides we don't see enough old Alumacrafts on this site.

 

[vans]

Here's a site to look at carpet options and pricing
http://www.snapincarpet.com/index.cfm

 

[jessb_55]

Hey everybody, thanks so much for your responses! Does anyone have any recommendations on what weight carpet to go or not to go lol? As for the steering cable I think I finally found something on Evinrudes sight under Outboard accessories and have an email in to them asking if they can help me identify what "Style" cable my boat uses! Otherwise it sounds like I may need to open the control box to see what I have.

Bonz_D yes my boat is a 16 ft lunker! I've been pretty happy with the thing especially since I got a good deal on it. The floor I went with a 1/2 inch (that's what the old floor was) marine plywood per everything I found on the forums said to avoid green treated etc, however my Dad called a marine dealership and they said they've been using greentreated for years and that the plywood would far outlast my boat....I decided to spend the money on the marine instead. replacing the floor is quite a project but will be worth it! I will definitely post some more pics as progress is made however I had to leave it at my parents for the time being so Easter weekend will probably be the next time I see it

 

[bonz_d]

Yes I agree that the old Lunkers are very fine hulls with a nice open design. Well built but not over built and heavy. If it's anything like my Classic 16 which it should be then it is also very stable.
The decking in mine was replaced by the previous owner and sadly they didn't do a very good job of it so I will be redoing it this spring. It also had 1/2" ply originally but they had used 3/4" which added a lot of weight. I'll be putting 1/2" back in it.

The 2 lever control which you have should be using the Type 400 cables. You will have to disassemble the end connectors and reuse them or locate new parts it they are extremely worn. The ends are held on to the cable with a small hex set screw. Hope this helps

As to the carpet, there are many places to get good marine carpet with the rubber backing. The last boat I did I used 16oz marine carpet. It was easy to work with and has held up very well. I really don't think anything more than a 20oz carpet is needed or will add to the durability and actually will only hold more water and take longer to dry out.

 

[jessb_55]

bonz_d, how certain are you on my boat using a Type 400 cable as when I go to Evinrudes and other websites and always shows several styles, i tried attaching a screenshot of the parts list but I can't upload for some reason I have asked my Dad to take a look at the cable and see if he sees any numbers on it etc but was just curious if you had any further advice as I've even emailed Evinrude and they don't answer.

 

[jessb_55]

For example here's the remote control options for 1981

 

[bonz_d]

There are basically 3 different control boxes used. The 2 lever control which uses the type 400 cable and then there are 2 different single lever controls. One has the warm up lever on the side and the other has the warm up lever on the top. The older one with the lever on the side also uses the type 400 cable, the other model with the lever on top uses a type 479.

Hope these 2 links help.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...l+box&qpvt=omc+throttle+control+box&FORM=IGRE
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...e+type&qpvt=omc+throttle+cable+type&FORM=IGRE

 

[jessb_55]

Great, well maybe I'll just take my chance on a type 400 cable then, as I trust ya Any idea what length I would need, or am I going to need to pull the cable out and measure it?

Thanks again everybody!

 

[bonz_d]

In your set of pictures the 4th and 5th one shows the square 2 lever model which is why I stated the type 400. Yes you may have to remove and measure unless you can find the model numbers on the existing cable which the last 2 numbers should be the length. they are sold in whole numbers by the foot. As in 5', 6', 7', 10', so on.

http://www.iboats.com/Johnson-Type-...9144994--session_id.811436367--view_id.250883

 

[jessb_55]

No Title

Hey everyone, so I finally got my boat back and tonight I started to look into the cable issue after finally getting the new floor/carpet in. Well tonight I started to pull out the cable and after unhooking the end at the motor i tried to manually move the shifter from neutral to forward to reverse however I could not move the lever to all the positions. I noticed that in order for me to move the lever a piston like mechanism had to be in the right space. Therefore I think the shifter cable itself is okay as I can move it freely without it hooked up to the motor, so I'm wondering if there is possibly an issue with the shift mechanism on the motor itself. Here is a pic to show the piston mechanism I'm referring to and the second arrow is pointing at stops the piston from moving up and down.

Can someone tell me if I should be able to move the shifter manually to all 3 positions or is that a false assumption? Can anyone tell me how I can troubleshoot this further!

Thanks again for all the assistance so far!

 

[bonz_d]

Check your throttle position. I believe that is to prevent you from shifting it while the throttle is too far open.

 

[jessb_55]

Ah yes I actually did think of that and still had trouble with the throttle all the way down as far it goes! Any other ideas?

 

[bonz_d]

Next try turning the prop while trying to shift it. Can also check throttle to see if it is actually closing the butterfly when it is fully back. If you can't tell that way pull the throttle cable and move the throttle by hand and watch the spring on the detent to see if it's moving.