TOPIC: 74 40hp evinrude long to short shaft help

i have a 74 evinrude with the extension in it to make it a long shaft. my question is what all do i need to make it short again? I thought i could just take the extension out and be done, but after doing some research i dont think its that easy.

Thanks
Will

You will need a short shaft drive shaft. short shaft water tube or tubes if it has 2 and thats it. Now there are a lot of guys out there wanting long shaft and have a short shaft so maybe you can make a trade. Place and add in glassifeds on here. One place to place and add is over at the old outboard motor site. Heres the link
www.aomci.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?board=Webvertize .
Just say that you would like to make a trade
Mike aka pathfinderz2

A '74 only has one water tube. You can either cut EXACTLY 5-inches off that one or find the shorter version.

Also, you would need to alter the shift rod. If your motor is a factory long shaft, then it likely has a long shift rod. If it was a short shaft that was converted to long, then it likely has a 5-inch extension.

If you have the 5-inch extension in the shift rod, you'll need a short shift rod connector (I have some onhand if you need one). Otherwise you would need to either replace the lower shift rod with a shorter one OR cut EXACTLY 5-inches off the existing shift rod and modify the tip for a detent to accept the bolt in the connector.

You would also need a short bolt for the rear of the housing to replace the long one.

All things being equal, there is a demand for complete conversion kits, so modifying parts lessens the value of what you have leftover.

- Scott