mercury force 120 leg swap from 1996 to a 1997, are they compatible?

[brendanmcd37]

i have a 1997 merc force 120 with a lower leg that the shifter assembly and cam fell out of place and needs to be rebuilt. i found a local 1996 merc force 120 with a blown engine, but a good leg, a couple props and extra parts that i can buy for pretty cheap. are there a big difference between the 96/97 models that this will not work for me? i dont have the serial number off the 96 just yet, but got a couple pictures i could upload. just trying to figure out if this will be worth the couple hundred bucks and swap legs and get some extra parts out of the deal instead of rebuilding. thanks guys

 

[emoney]

I had a 97 Force 120 and I'm pretty sure the lowers are compatible. On a related side note, I had the same issue with the shift rod coming out of the cam that I messed with for a week solid. Finally hired a mobile marine guy who came to the house and fished it back into place in about 30 minutes. Might be something to look into, just to save some money.

 

[brendanmcd37]

I had a 97 Force 120 and I'm pretty sure the lowers are compatible. On a related side note, I had the same issue with the shift rod coming out of the cam that I messed with for a week solid. Finally hired a mobile marine guy who came to the house and fished it back into place in about 30 minutes. Might be something to look into, just to save some money.

yeah ive been looking into it, but this boats been running over a year with it like this, so im assuming that the cam and everything in the leg is gonna be chewed up and need to be replaced. but maybe ill keep trying to find it and get it to go back in. thanks:joyous:

 

[emoney]

You should still be able to get that shift cam if need be. Probably $50 or less. Doesn't mean you shouldn't pick up the parts motor if you want, but those cams are meant to be replaced. If it's a freshwater motor, should be able to pull the bearing carrier pretty easily.