1964 Mercury 650 LowerUnit Swap

[OhNoMrBill1960]

I just bought a nice runabout with a 650 Mercury Kiekeiffer 1964 engine on it and it runs perfectly. I changed the lower unit with that of a Mercury 850 74 Vintage and it all matched up very well. The shifter worked fine but just prior to the first sea trial I noticed it was in forward position and even while running it *wet ofcourse* it won't go back into neutral or reverse. Could something have slipped. Or is it just a matter of separating it and reconnecting. Question 2 is it better to align in forward, neutral or reverse. Question 3 am I nuts to expect this motor to provide my family reliable service for a couple of years. We spend maybe 3-6 hours tubing sking every 2-3 weeks on a lake.

 

[alcan]

Re: 1964 Mercury 650 LowerUnit Swap

Hi Bill<br />To index the shift, Remove the L/U. Shift gear lever to forward, shift L/U to forward and reassemble. While nobody but the motor fairy really knows how long a motor will run. I would think that with proper maintaince your goals could become reality. The problem is most folks don't go the distance with repairs and maintance. They seem to repair only the one or two things and forget about the rest. If you get yourself a manual and follow the the testing,inspecting and maintaining procedures throughly you should have very few problems. All motors are prone to failure sooner or later, regaurdless of age. Most outboards are killed by ignorance or die of neglect, very few are ever worn out.