Lower unit for 1976 70 HP Johnson 70EL76 - controls opposite

[capnstabbin]

Lower unit for 1976 70 HP Johnson 70EL76

I have a question about my lower unit

I had to fabricate an extension to the "shift lever" underneath the powerhead..

It actually allows my motor to be shifted from the top of the "bell lever" instead of the bottom... The reason is to switch the action to push the shift lever when it is supposed to be pulled and pull the shift lever when it is supposed to be pushed. Why? You ask. well upon launching my boat for the first time i found that the boat went in the opposite of what my controls were set to... reverse was forward and forward was reverse

Come to find out that I had to add this homemade extension mentioned above to make the controls work in the opposite direction... but now forward is forward and reverse is reverse.

I had a few parts laying around from other engines, and actually I found a bell lever that worked from the top....

It has been working fine but it is rigged beyond rigged. Its welded aluminum and looks sturdy, but I would really like to make it work the way that Johnson and Evinrude designed it.....

Anyway, this is about lower units right? The lower unit , which is a big part of this story, is from maybe a 65hp 1972 Johnson/Evinrude ... I think...... that is what I have been told. Does that lower unit work in the opposite direction..or is it possible the lower unit was put back together wrong?

Should that lower unit even be on my engine?..... its works fine. What happened here?

 

[capnstabbin]

Re: Lower unit for 1976 70 HP Johnson 70EL76 - controls opposite

I know this must be a strange one and to this day no one knows what the heck is going on with this one.
Here are some photos that might help me plead my case.

 

[capnstabbin]

Re: Lower unit for 1976 70 HP Johnson 70EL76 - controls opposite

Also before anyone says anything, this photo shows the throttle cable removed

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Lower unit for 1976 70 HP Johnson 70EL76 - controls opposite

What you have is an earlier lower unit on a later motor. There were two styles of lower unit that will bolt up to your motor. The HYDROMECHANICAL lower unit is the first style that came out after they switched from the electric shifts in 1973 and made through 1975 model year. I believe 1976 was the first year of the STRAIGHT MECHANICAL style of shift with the opposite shift pattern - on the 3-cylinder models.

To make it a little less monkey-rigged, you can either get the shift linkage from a '73-'75 3-cylinder or get a lower unit for a '76 to mid '80s 3-cylinder.

 

[capnstabbin]

Re: Lower unit for 1976 70 HP Johnson 70EL76 - controls opposite

Thank you