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I have a long shaft, electric start 1980 Merc. 40. I just bought an 82/83 short shaft, non-electric Merc. 40. I did this beacuse I wanted a short shaft on my 1969 hull, Plus I wanted to get the 20 lbs. battery out of the boat. The new short shaft came with its own control box, But the throttle cables are too long. I have tried to switch the cables, But alas they are different. (don't you love old Merc's!) So I guess my question is, Is the wiring harness "Hard wired" in the control box or is their a "plug" that one could pull out? I would like to use the 1980 control box(without the harness) because the cables are the right length.
Thanks in advance.
~Sean
Sean,
On my old Merc control box the wiring harness is hard wired to the back of the lock cylinder/ignition switch. If you remove the switch and plug the hole you should be good to go. The old Mercs are notorious for bad wires. They corrode and deteriorate to nothing. It might be a good idea to check all the wires of the inner wiring harness and perhaps replace them before you go out.
Mike
