Morse shifter problem

[Emmo]

The nuts holding my Morse shifter in place have either fallen off or a really loose and the cable is binding. I took it to a friends Correct Craft shop because he said he could fix it. After having the boat for two weeks, he gave up saying that the top would have to separated from the hull in order to get to the shifter. Well, I'm not ready for that problem in the middle of the season. Has anybody got a suggestion for getting to the shifter in a 70 model 18 2+3 barrel back?

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Emmo mailto:emmette@emmette.comemmette@emmette.com</A>

[Blewbyu]

Emmo- You aren't gonna like this.....the only way to avoid removing the deck is:

[Blewbyu]

Cut a hole in the side panel.Sorry to tell ya that...and sorry for th' double post.
Uncle Jeffrey


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[CDMA]

Emmo,

Get someone really small and agile to try and get in there. It is possible trust me. Or like my boat cut a hole. When I bought my boat there was already a cut out around the throttle made of polished aluminum. I NEVER could have actually made the cut but now after having the boat for a few months I am glad it is there. I even chose not to fix this acess port when I painted the boat due to it's conciencience. Actually the aluminum looks really good; almost original looking.

Chris

[RickR]

Emmo
I am not familiar with the Morse Control but
If you take your front seat out you should be able to reach in to loosen the mount.
If necessary pull the remote out the back to do repairs (attach a string to use as a snake to get the control back in.
RickR

[GeneS]

Emmo,

It is possible to get to the back of the shifter without cutting the side of the deck. I am 6' 4" and 235# and I did it.

Take the seats out and push your head up under the helm. You can see the back of the shifter but you can't get your head and an arm in there at the same time.

There are two major pieces to the shifter: a flat plate that holds the outer cable jacket and the cast base to the shifter. The flat plate has to be removed from the base before the base can be separated and removed from the boat.

There are four brass slot-head screws holding the flat plate to the base. You need a shorty slot screw driver (tie a string to it so if it slips out of you hand you can retrieve it). Remove the four brass screws and the plate with the cable attached will separate.

Now you can remove the three screws that hold the base to the deck side and pull it all away.

Have someone close by to hand you things and go slow. You have to look at the assembly an d then work from memory since you can not see once you stick you arm in there.

If that does not work, a friend cut a 4" x 6" hole in his deck to replace the shifter and used a piece of 1/2" Starboard to cover the hole. Looks great.

Good luck,

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Gene Schmidt
'74 X-18 "Chi Chi"

[AVickers]

WARNING!!!!!!!!!!! You don't have to cut anything nor do you have to remove the top deck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had the same problem on my '76 18' and initially was told that there was no way to get in service the Morse single-lever shifter without taking the boat apart or cutting a hole. It's a single chrome plated lever w/ wooden ball for a handle and chrome surround on the side of the inner deck -- my guess is that your's is the same. I didn't accept that I'd have to cut up my boat. And, sure enough, here's a more-or-less step-by-step using tools readily found around the house... I did the whole job in a day.

I'm also over 6' and, much as I hate to admit it, weigh the same as Gene, so I know anyone can do it. Contrary to the way Gene did his, I took the whole mechanism out in one piece -- then I could get to the cable anchors and such relatively easily.

Take the throttle linkage and shift linkage loose at the carb and foot, respectively. The whole mechanism will be removed by the footwell on the left front of the boat. Removal of the throttle cable is fairly straightfoward. Heim joint and housing stop detach from the mounts on the throttle shaft and thermostat housing (7/16" open-end wrench and a screwdriver). The shift cable will require pulling the back housing on the foot and taking it loose from the linkage (needle nosed pliers and a 10mm open-end). Then you will have to unscrew the through-nut that attaches the cable to the linkage (it may take a pair of Visegrips to keep the cable from twisting -- use a pair of pliers to turn the nut). Simply unscrew it until it and the jam nut come off the cable. Then you'll be able to pull the cable back through the water sealing outer housing. The adjustment on this going back together isn't critical -- just count the number of threads before you take it loose, then put it back to the same number.

Tape the two cables together and then tape a 10' length of pull string or wire to them so you can pull them back through the gunwale to the engine compartment when you put things back together.

Now, on to the shifter...

From inside the boat, remove the neutral lockout -- standard thread, just unscrew it. Should be a hand-tight fit. Counterclockwise is off.

Remove the shifter handle -- Allen-head screw on the underside. Loosen it and work the handle off by rocking the handle back and forth on the shaft -- it's splined.

Remove the bezel -- flat screwdriver under the edge pops it off.

There's a nut on the inside of the mounting housing. You can use a flat punch and a small hammer to unscrew it (similar to unscrewing a spindle nut on a 4x4 Truck -- just put the end of the punch on a flat tangential to the centerline pointed in the direction of rotation. Tap the punch so that it tends to rotate the nut loose.) After it's sort of loose, you can unscrew it the rest of the way with fingers.

The shifter mechanism will be loose and fall to the inside of the gunwale. Undo the three Phillips screws that hold the surround in place. This will allow the shifter mechanism to fall free.

Now you have to get under the dash -- you can lay in the footwell and reach up under the dash into the gunwale and grab the whole mechanism (it's easier if you pull the seats, lay crossways on your left side w/ your head against the left footwell and reach over and into the gunwale space w/ your right arm). Pull it forward and across the front of the boat under the dash and out of the foot well taking the cables with it. Once the cables are clear, you can untape the pull string and leave it in place to use when it comes time to reinstall things.

What has probably happened is that there's a boss on the shifter that has wallowed out it's respective groove in the mounting ring (the ring with the three Phillips-head screws). You might be able to find a replacement for this at a boat junk yard -- good luck.

What I ended up doing was to cut another groove in the ring 120 degrees from the original. When reassembled, it was as tight as new. I thought about using a milling machine to do the work, but that would have required driving 25 miles to my shop. What I ended up doing was using a hacksaw and a bastard file to cut a new groove -- fitting occasionally to the shifter to make sure it would be a good, tight fit (took about 1/2 hour -- one thing is that you don't have to cut the groove too deep -- you'll see how far up the wear line is on the original slot). I figured the first groove lasted 25 years, the new one would last at least that long...

While you have it all apart, look all the attachment hardware and cable-holding stuff over real good to make sure it's all tight and in good shape. If it's not, now's the time to either tighten or replace stuff.

Assembly is the reverse. Pull the shifter back into the boat by the pullstring and cables. Feed the mechanism up to the hole and place the ring back into the hole to hold it in place -- be sure you line things up on the new groove. Then you can install the retaining nut and screws and put everything else back together.

Enjoy!

[This message has been edited by avickers (edited 07-08-2000).]

[Stromer]

WOW- That is good work and instructions. However, it seems like a lot of it! When I got my 1972 18 2+3 the original owner had already cut a larger hole and mounted on a piece of polished aluminium. It works great and looks good too. Cable changes and adjustments are a snap!

[AVickers]

Well, as usual, I left off a step...

When pulling the shifter cable off the foot, you'll also have to take the housing stop bracket loose. This is on the front of the intermediate housing where the cable enters the foot -- just above the reverse pawl mechanism. There are two small bolts holding the retainer plate in place. These bolts should have either 10mm or 7/16" heads on them and an open-end or box-end wrench will fit. One flat at a time until they're loose and you can turn them with your fingers. You might be able to simply loosen them a bit and slide the retainer bracket away from the cable housing, but on mine, I had to take it off. Also, mine was weird in that one bolt had a 10mm head and the other was 7/16.

Since you can't really see what you're doing back there, it nearly made me crazy 'til I figured out what was going on...

[Forrest]

Great advice! Sorry Emmo that I didn't call you back, but I didn't get a chance to check my VM at work until today. I concur with avickers, DON'T CUT ANYTHING! Anyway, do it by getting someone with long skinny arms to reach back there. Wendy, riding with me on the First Annual Lake Eufaulla Donzi Roundup, fits that description. She is good with a wrench, and owes me a favor (I overhauled the powerhead on her 35 JohnRude this past weekend). Just let me know if you need to borrow her! You can probabaly fly down and pick her up. She requires cold beer though.

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Forrest