Re: Old cable/pulley steering
I have two boats that steer with a pulley system, but they differ a bit from the sketch above. I had a third that had a similar cable system but it now has a Teleflex system.
On mine, the cable ends both terminate at the steering drum or pulley. The one boat uses a larger diameter steering pulley with only one full wrap of the cable on each end, the other is a smaller, wider, smooth drum with each end of the cable wrapped half way across the width of the drum.
The cable leaves the drum, heads rearward around a corner pulley, heading back to another corner pulley which is spring tethered, then to the motor where it's attached via a stainless steel plate with two holes, which the cable threads through, the plate is then bolted to the motor via an eye bolt.
The cable passes through the motor attachment plate, then heads around the opposite rear corner pulley, which also has a spring tether mount, then back forward around one more pulley which redirects it back to the steering drum where the end terminates after a wrap or two around the drum.
It works fine, but I've had problems keeping the individual plastic pulleys free. They tend to seize up rather often, even with constant lube. The parts are common to many sailboats, so they are still available. I did finally stumble across some coated stainless steel cable which will most likely outlast me. I found it in a flea market, so I can't say where to find it, it was most likely meant to be clothes line.
I've also got a stick steer boat that is done this same way, but it only uses two rear pulleys at the corners, all other cable guides are just metal eyes or plastic grommets in the hull itself.
With any cable system, the diameter of the steering drum and number of wraps the cable makes around it determines both how fast and how far the motor can turn. The corner pulleys being sprung mounted keep the cable tight at all times, thus preventing it from slipping off the pulleys at any point.
I modified Woodnaut's sketch a bit to show how mine are routed, both are late 50s to early 60s boats. The steering wheel is on different sides on either of my boats, but the layout is the same only in a mirror image.