1990 Johnson 200 - How to shift with lower unit off

[rapishorrid]

I have a 1990 Johnson 200 that I just took the lower unit off of. I put it in reverse with the controls before I removed it but must've bumped it on the way out because now it's in neutral. I want it in reverse again so I can rotate the driveshaft with the prop to align the splines. I rotated it a full 360 degrees and nothing happened so I'm guessing the rotation is just for adjusting height and it must move vertically to shift gears?

This is what it looks like:

 

[Chris1956]

The shift rod moves up+down to change gears. Push it down for reverse.

I find that when I shove the shift shaft into the midsection, the linkage tends to push the shift rod down, putting the motor into reverse. Makes installation a bit easier. I use needle nose pliers to pull up on the shift rod to connect it to the linkage.

 

[Faztbullet]

Since you have been twisting it you have got shift height spec out of wack, shift it back to neutral and measure from housing to center of shift rod hole, should be 21-15/16 then install.

 

[rapishorrid]

Doesn't the hole in the shift rod have to be exactly perpendicular (like in the picture) so the linkage bolt can go through? In other words, if you're adjusting the height you would only adjust in full 360 degree turns?