1981 Stringer Mechanical shift?

[jim81961]

Hello everyone.I bought this boat last week,with the lower unit taken apart from the prop to the clutch dogs.The guy told me it was getting water in there and he was going to replace the seals and bearings,but the WIFE said no more money!.So this is where I come in. I made the mistake of reading to many omc sites,now iam confused.As far as I can tell it is a 800 Mechanical shift(as ive looked everywhere in the engine bay for the tag) all I can find is the model# on the outdrive#982566.It was suppose to come out with a 260hp 350.( I haven't checked the block number yet,but it could have anything from a 265 to a 400 small block in it) it does have a v8 chev. My problem is the omc outdrive,Boomyal has a pic on here that shows the square anode that says its a mech. shift. Mine has the same thing. this is where I get confused because I want to get the service manual and the repair manual and the right bearings and seals.It has 15 splines on prop shaft,22 screws around the big rubber seal and it does have the shift housing on the intermediate housing. I belive it had a recall when it was new something I read I think. I read where around 1981 was where omc was changing things.Since its this far apart id just a soon put all new seals and bearings amd waterpump in it if you folks could steer me in the right direction.......thank you so much Jim

 

[superbenk]

Re: 1981 Stringer Mechanical shift?

What's the question? It sounds like a full mechanical shift. Should have micro switches on the shift converter box that retards the engine when you shift. Hydro-mech didn't have that.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 1981 Stringer Mechanical shift?

if it has that anode, it's mechanical - whether the boat was originally mech or hydromech or whether it was properly converted to mechanical by adding an ESA system or not will take some digging around the back of he engine.
Some were improperly converted and people just smashed them out of gear (wrecking the cables and drive) instead of putting an ESA system on.

 

[jim81961]

Re: 1981 Stringer Mechanical shift?

Sorry Superbenk about the confusion. What I needed to know is what manuals do I need for this outdrive.And when I order the parts what stringer should I be looking at? ive read so many things on here about parts such as the years,for stringer models 1978 to 1981,1978 to 1985,1982 to 1985, the more I read the more confused I become lol.I live 180 miles to the closest OMC mechanic.(Reno,NV.)Also to add to the confusion lastnight I was going thru the parts that came out of the lower unit,there was a backing plate with 4 bolt holes in it. I looked on the parts diagram and that piece is only on the 400 stinger?.So Superbenk I need to know what service manual and repair manual do I need, when ordering parts what out drive do I have so I do get the right parts. Thankyou SuperBenk and Howard for replying.I will try to get pics in the next few hours if it stops snowing lol. I don't know if this will help but I have a few part numbers off the old parts....gear#910994,bearing carrier#328322,prop#391202.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 1981 Stringer Mechanical shift?

400 series lowers have 13 spline propshafts, 800 series have 15 spline.
If yours is a 400, get rid of it.
What manual you will want depends on what lower unit you will ultimately use, and whether or not your boat was properly converted to full mechanical shift or it was a hack-job.