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Convert Long Shaft to Regular

T

The Waco Kid

Member
Hello Everyone! This forum looks like a pretty cool place. I am brand new to outboards. My first one is a 1988 Johnson 15 HP Long shaft. It was free to a good home. My question tonight is, can it be converted to a Regular length? Looks like OMC added a 6" spacer between the lower unit and the upper. So, the shifter and drive shafts would need to be replaced, and the spacer removed. Any other obstacles? Anyone ever done it? I am afraid it will be too long for the transom height on my 14 ft aluminum V hull fishing boat. What do you think? Thanks, The Waco Kid.
 
Measure the transom height on the boat. Next on the outboard measure from the cavitation plate to the transom mounting bracket where it hangs on the top edge of the transom. If the two are equal you’re okay. If the outboard measures 5” longer then you’d need to consider converting it to a short shaft.
 
You need the driveshaft, shiftshaft and water tube in the lower exhaust tuner. Once you have all the parts together including upper water tube grommet powerhead gasket and upper gearcase seals and gasket then you can do the conversion. It may be cheaper to find a shortshaft gearbox and then seapout the water tube or cut yours the right length. Eather way easy enough to do in a day with the right parts.
 
Hi, I did my 25hp a few years back, and had the drive shaft cut and splines machined in. Since they are not fine splines it wasn't too expensive. Just a thought.....
 
Do you know the history of this motor ?----Have you run this " free " motor ?----Might be best to evaluate a 30 year old motor before spending hard earned money.
 
Definitely make sure it runs well before doing anything. If the cavitation plate is even with the keel then you're okay. If it's off by an inch or so you can raise the motor on the transom to correct this. If the plate is lower than the keel by several inches then you have a shaft that's too long for sure.

KJ
 
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