Johnson 55HP (1979) Throttle Arm Cleaning / Reassembling

Hi Folks.

I decided today to take apart the throttle arm seen here, took out all the washers, spring and cleaned the whole thing out, coated with some gear oil and re-assembled.

Figured it would do a world of good (dont think its ever been cleaned!), and was having some issues with the arms returning to where they should so figured it wouldnt harm.

The spring took quite some force to pull back far enough to get back in but think I have it now.

My questions..

1. Could someone kindly confirm if the small gap were my screwdriver is pointing looks normal? It doesnt seem to want to close much more than that without the whole mechanism being too tight to operate so I figure this is normal but would love for someone more knowledgeable to confirm.

2. When i tighten that hex centre bolt (that sits on a washer) for the arm, I assume it's supposed to be tight but not "too tight"? If I tighten it so its a bit firmer by hand the whole arm gets stuck/locked in place. I assumed its supposed to spin a bit on that bolt so not to tighten it too far, but any tips here are appreciated. Was a bit concerned maybe I didnt put it back together right if its refusing to fully tighten.

At 0:07 here this guys shows a slight gap...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWzgOkxyGKw

Unless the camera was acting funny it looked like shifting was backwards.-----A fairly common issue when wrong lower unit is installed.---That bolt should be tight and still the arm should be loose.-----Revisit your assembly work !!

Hey Racerone. Checking this... sorry which part did you mean that was backwards?

Did you mean in the photo or youtube link?

The photos were my motor, the youtube link was someone random i found (was just referencing it because his also has a small gap where my screwdriver is pointing)

OK so I took the arm off again, wiggled the springs a bit and managed to get it fitting a lot better (one of the springs inside was not sitting correctly).

Bit worried about this backwards business though which part did you mean Racerone?

The backwards shifting was on that 3 cylinder motor.-----Perhaps it was the camera speed I don't know.-----Taking pictures before the work is an option for you.