first time owner

greetings. i,m a first time boat owner with a few questions .
i recently purchased a boat, motor and trailor. a 15 foot fibre glass and a 1977 402 merc 40 horse power motor.after changing the water pump,i,m about ready to put it back together.
the first question is.the shifting cam.how is it placed on the shaft? does the cam go to the rear of the motor? with the l/u in neutral?
i,m not too sure how to put it on.
The second question is:the reverse lock.it came off while removing the lower unit.for the life of me i can,t find any info on this piece.i know where it goes and what it,s for.my question is : does the pin on the motor go through the holes on the end of the reverse lock?the reason i,m asking is that it seems that the holes are broken and they don,t make a complete circle for the pin to go through, more like a half circle. do i need to get a new one?
the lights and wiring are onther story.
i hope some one can help.thanks in advance

Re: first time owner

your talking about shift cam? there are 2 neutrals on some so pick a gear. manual says use forward, some pick reverse. put shifter in reverse, rotate cam till prop shaft is in reverse, free wheels one way, in gear the other. then if your drive shaft splines don't line up too get it together, rotate prop till it slides in. the reverse locl, i can't help with, mines broken and i haven't investigated as parts arn't available for mine

Re: first time owner

Thanks for the quick reply diaric.i,ll give it a try this weekend, i work ,till 3 am and since it,s in my inlaws yard i have no choice but to wate ,till saturday to put it back together.
I geuss i don,t really need the reverse lock to get me in the water,but with my luck i know i,ll end up needing it the first time out. lol

Re: first time owner

by next weekend someone should give you some info on the reverse lock, lol

Re: first time owner

i hope your right diaric,but i think i,ll put an order in for one any way ( if i can still get it.)I,m a welder fabricator by trade so i may try and make one at work, you know, government job (wink,wink nudge nudge).lol
This boat is in rough shape,the guy said i would never get it going, but within an hour i had the motor running good,but i should have thought about it before i started it., I had no way of shutting it off. The wiring at the ignition was so screwed up i could,nt shut it off at the key. I had to pull the gas line to kill the engine. that,s when i found out the water pump did,nt work.Hence the removal of the lower end.Now i,ll have to search for basic wiring of a 15 foot boat.

Re: first time owner

if you need specific wiring components, then post what you need. there are replacement internal and external wiring, as well as ignition switchs. ignition switchs depend on the controller used

Re: first time owner

diaric, sorry about the delay in getting back to you, I geuss my question would be "what do i need ?" there are no gages,no swiches,no dials no anything electrical other than the ignition,there was a bad mess of a "home made " wiring(about six lengths running from front to back) i got rid of them so i could work on the ignition, i got the baot to run,as i said earlier and decided to change the impellor and gear oil.
Now i would like to start on the wiring,for the lights, fish finder,radio.that sort of thing. I have no clue when it comes to wiring any thing.Do i need a fuse block? switches?gauges?horn (i have an air powerd train horn i would like to use)just kidding about the horn.
well thats my dellema diaric,i bought the boat as is, knowing that it had a few problems,i,m not going to give up on it ,it,s a good little boat.I,m sure my son and I are going to have years of fun on it.I just have to get her in the water to let the fun begin.lol

Re: first time owner

Here is a generic wiring diagram that was posted by silvertip in the FAQ

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=186986

This will get you started post the specifics on what you want and we will help. Start a new thread in the electrical forum for that.

Re: first time owner

so the motor to ignition switch wiring is ok? gauges would be whatever you desire, the most important would be a tach. it will let you know your prop set is right and whether your motor is running at its peak, or idling properly. a fuse block is a very good idea on the positive wiring. 12 volt wiring is very simple to do and understand. run a pair of good heavy(12 gauge)wire to the fuse block and a common ground. then hook things up from there. the most accurate speedometer you can use would be gps. some fish finders can get speedo adapters that are fairly accurate and simple to hook up.

Re: first time owner

those are some good ideas diaric,i,ll start on the wiring next weekend,we,ll see how it goes. But i,ll put a tach. in it for sure.and then i,ll work my way out from there. thanks again diaric, i,ll post my reults next weekend when i get finished.