will shift rod interchange 78 evinrude lower unit

[old evin]

I bought a 1978 200 v6 evinrude that had a small gear case on it. I am goingto put the big gear case back on it. the shift rod on mine is the same from 76-78 hich has threads on the top of the shift rod. 1979- ? have a solid rod and thread at the bottom. they all appear to be the same other than that.with exception of gear ratio. my question is can I change outmy shift rod to work with an 80s or 90s lower unit.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Your '78 has a completely different gearcase than the later engines. For a very few years in the late 70's they used a hydraulically assist shift mechanism in the gearcase. On that one the shirt rod is pulled upward to go into reverse, on all others the shift rod is pulled upward to go into forward.

I'm not sure if it's even possible, but if you do change gearcases you'll also need to look into replacing the linkage attached to the intake so that your shifter operates in the right direction.

 

[old evin]

thanks for response. you are correct they do shift different. I put a 91 lu on my 78 200 and the shifting is backwards. I made a bracket to counter the problem and it works fine