Re: Long shaft to short shaft
Hi Snowmann. Is this your 1980 50 HP Merc? I once did the reverse with a 1971 80 HP Merc. It became surplus when I totalled a 15" short shaft boat in a car accident 8 hours after upgrading to the brand new Merc from a 40 HP Johnson. That model didn't have a 5" extension piece, it required replacing the outer housing, the driveshaft, cooling tubes, shift links, etc to accommodate the 20" long shaft replacement boat. My Dad, the toolmaker, made a number of the parts, including I think, the driveshaft, complete with heat treated splines. The OEM housing was expensive. The old housing had no trade-in value (even as new). I remember that we had to frankenstein the attachment point of the shocks, since apparently even those were different between shaft lengths. It worked well for years without problems, but it was an expensive proposition. On a used older motor, I don't think it's worth the effort. - Grandad
