Ok so I am relatively new with this type of drive, have NO idea and I'm not too proud to admit that 
I spent the evening surfing the forums, looking for answers and found a few - I then called a few repair shops around town with no luck trying to get a few more answers "call Charlie Monday, he knows more about that vintage stuff" vintage indeed
So here I the summary and what I'm looking for help with.
1982 Renken Bowrider I got from my dad and have lovingly restored.
OMC 120 horse
Stringer outdrive
PROBLEM:Won't shift into/out of gear.
The lower unit was rebuilt a few years back but I cracked the foot off anyway to check, fluid looks clean, no metal in there and the gears look nice and healthy. This leads me to believe it is the notorious shift cable. I read somewhere that the short end of the cable - when the long is pulled out all the way is supposed to measure 4 7/8" mine is 6 1/2" I also know there are 2 different models of this out drive and I have no clue which it is, maybe 6 1/2 is right, maybe it's stretched out like a.... stringer cable
Is there any way I can measure or and #s that would indicate what cable I need and the proper measurements?
I'm going to order a repair manual for it this evening to hopefully be able to do the repairs myself since I have $700 into repairs currently and if it's the cable another 200-400$ just for the cable... I need to be certain what it is before I attempt anything.
Thank you for your time
I spent the evening surfing the forums, looking for answers and found a few - I then called a few repair shops around town with no luck trying to get a few more answers "call Charlie Monday, he knows more about that vintage stuff" vintage indeed
So here I the summary and what I'm looking for help with.
1982 Renken Bowrider I got from my dad and have lovingly restored.
OMC 120 horse
Stringer outdrive
PROBLEM:Won't shift into/out of gear.
The lower unit was rebuilt a few years back but I cracked the foot off anyway to check, fluid looks clean, no metal in there and the gears look nice and healthy. This leads me to believe it is the notorious shift cable. I read somewhere that the short end of the cable - when the long is pulled out all the way is supposed to measure 4 7/8" mine is 6 1/2" I also know there are 2 different models of this out drive and I have no clue which it is, maybe 6 1/2 is right, maybe it's stretched out like a.... stringer cable
Is there any way I can measure or and #s that would indicate what cable I need and the proper measurements?
I'm going to order a repair manual for it this evening to hopefully be able to do the repairs myself since I have $700 into repairs currently and if it's the cable another 200-400$ just for the cable... I need to be certain what it is before I attempt anything.
Thank you for your time