I need some advice about the bushing, gasket, and O ring for the shift shaft rod located in the exhaust area of my 1969 Evinrude 25 hp. As a first time do-it-yourself mechanic, I realize now that I didn't need to remove the shift rod from the upper lower unit to work on my gears in the lower unit. But, I did. After flipping my clutch dog around and hoping that solves my main problem, I began to re-install everything. As I was guiding the shift shaft back up through the bushing in the upper lower unit, I noticed some orange material in the bushing hole. I assume this is gasket material. My question is whether I should put the boat in water and see if it leaks, or just plan on taking things apart and replacing the bushing gasket and O ring. If that is my only option, how difficult (and expensive) will that job be?
