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Old 05-17-2012, 09:15 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ILikeRust View Post
I've always thought it would make more sense to have, if possible, based on space and configuration of the boat, a metal rod with a ball joint on each end or something along those lines, rather than a big cable. I have sort of half thought out something like that for my boat - with two metal rods. One to go pretty much vertically from the cockpit shift lever down to the engine level, which connects to an L-shaped pivoting arm, and then from that pivoting arm to the shift lever on the back of the engine. I think it could work and based on the relative lengths of the legs of the "L", you could get a mechanical advantage to make it a little easier to shift (although requiring perhaps slightly more travel on the shift lever in the cockpit.

It's something I probably never actually will do, but it's an interesting idea.
Bill,
It sounds like you're talking about using a bell crank to replace the cable. I think somebody posted a few years ago that they had done just that. I replaced my cable a few years ago and haven't had any problems since, but it's not a bad idea if you have a good layout for it. The only problem I can see is lining everything up properly, and a cable would require less dedicated space.
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1977 c&c30 Mk1 hailing from Port Clinton, Ohio
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