Lower unit gear re-assembly difficulty 1977 35 hp Johnson

I got the lower unit gear assembly apart, found and replace drive gear(as there were some teeth broken) and thrust washer. Now I can't seem to get the assembly back into the gear housing. The piece I am struggling with is getting the shifting lever inside the housing with the shaft and gears. This lever nests at the bottom of the housing. If anyone has advice or videos to help me, I would appreciate it. I don't want to force it, and I cannot figure out the trick.

fdrgator said:

​I found the tool I was thinking about, but it is specified for the 9.9 and 15hp motors. So I guess I don't have the answer to your problem.

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Thanks for checking...I have an idea to push the forward gear onto the shaft (out of neutral position) to see if that buys me room to "finagle" the assembly into place. If you have any more ideas, let me know.

Install forward gear.----------Now install shifter fork.-----------Then install clutch dog into the cradle, the correct end forward.-------------Now install the shaft with detent balls in place.

racerone said:

Install forward gear.----------Now install shifter fork.-----------Then install clutch dog into the cradle, the correct end forward.-------------Now install the shaft with detent balls in place.

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I assume I am doing all that in the housing...in that order. I haven't tried that yet, but makes some sense. Is there a trick to getting the detent balls to feed into the clutch dog if all that is way back in the housing? That is the only thing I am struggling with mentally. I will attempt this later tonight if you have any tricks for me on the detent balls. Thanks again...really good feedback.

Maybe put a hose clamp to hold the balls in place and then push it into the clutch dog just dont tighten the clamp down so it slides off the splines? are you replacing the pinion as well?

kimcrwbr1 said:

Maybe put a hose clamp to hold the balls in place and then push it into the clutch dog just dont tighten the clamp down so it slides off the splines? are you replacing the pinion as well?

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Good idea...yeah, sorry, the pinion is what I replaced, not the "drive gear". I may have gotten that term from another exploded diagram.

Got it together. Here is what worked for me. With the bearing, drive pinion and forward gear in the housing 1st: I then placed the shifter yoke in the bottom where it nests. Then I put the shaft with clutch dog and shifter cradle in neutral position on the shaft and placed that into position. Now the shifter yoke was in the way from everything falling into place. So, with a needle nose pliers, I reached down and grabbed the front end of the shifter yoke where it would engage the shifting lever. When you grab this and pull it forward, the yoke will pivot out of the way, letting the shaft fall into place, but you must maintain control of the yoke as now you can line it up with the cradle and let it fall into place. After that, the rest of it goes together quite easily with the reverse gear next, then the shifting lever which connects to the front end of the yoke. It would be wise to connect the shifting rod now to ensure you can see it connected. Then complete the re-assembly with the retainer plate, retainer ring(make sure to get it into grove intended for this ring to nest in...kinda tricky), and last thrust washer. Then the bearing housing and seal can be installed to complete the re-assembly of the lower unit gear assembly in a 77 Johnson 35hp. Hope this helps someone else in the future.

Your method worked for me, saved me from having to buy or build a specialty tool! worth a bump to say thanks!!

fdrgator said:

I found the tool I was thinking about, but it is specified for the 9.9 and 15hp motors. So I guess I don't have the answer to your problem.

Click to expand...

Please tell me where I can get this tool. I'm having problem with my 1976 9.9 Evinrude. Thx

Simple fact.----You do not need the special tool.-----You turn the housing upside down and the part fall into place.----Has worked for me every time.----Done the job numerous times !