M26X. Outboard. Control box, cables, wiring -- how to restore/repair/build new?

[KonstantinAtHouston]

Hello everyone.

I'm new here, but I've already learned that new buys pizza for everyone, so I'm fast learner. I don't really mind to buy pizza to you'all, just send me your bank account numbers, address and SSNs so that I know where to send it...

In the meantime, while your pizza is in the mail, I'm asking for help from this marvelous community.

We (me and two friends) bought a 2002 Mac 26X recently. PO run it with some 60hp Mercury(?) outboard, but the motor was stolen from the boat, and control cables, power wires and signal wiring was vandalically cut in the engine well.

We purchased a 1995 Evinrude 70hp E70TLEO and now finally got it close to running (a separate tragicomic horror story of epic proportions) and... And we suddenly discovered that that control box (a box with a handle on the right side of pedestal) with control cables (shift and throttle, they are pretty standard, right? Evinrude owner spotted a pair in a dark corner of his shop and gave it to us) are working kinda strange. Like, when handle suppose to open throttles, it actually closes them. We tried to switch cable places at the handle and got even more confused. So, my questions:

Am I correct to assume that the control cables are pretty much standard and they should work with any handle and any engine (provided correct installation and length)?

Am I correct to assume that the control box (read "handle") meant for Mercury will not work with Evinrude outboard?

And bonus question (I just love this idea of bonus questions from magnificent Drifter!) Where can I buy control cables with adjustment thread on BOTH ends?

[KonstantinAtHouston]

And, of course, to introduce our boat (preliminary named "Second Derivative", but that's not in stone yet), few pics:

On my trip home (please note that not just overall colors and silhouette of my Explorer are in harmony with the Mac, but even the wheel rims pattern is similar):

At home:

Empty outboard's nest:

[KonstantinAtHouston]

Looks like the problem we have in our existing control box is "push for throttle" vs "pull for throttle". Hopefully this video from UFLEX will help me to resolve it...

[Jimmyt]

Konstantin- I was hoping one of the X owners would chime in on your discussion, but no luck so far. I haven’t had the misfortune to have my controls go bad, so I don’t have experience in this matter.

This may be your chance to document a repair that hasn’t been covered.

Thanks for participating, and documenting your process.

[OverEasy]

Hi!

Double ended threaded control cables are what are used for Tohatsu and Suzuki engines.

They can be sourced online or at dealers who support/service these engines.

They come in a variety of lengths.
Measure what you need to run with generous curves of about no less than an 18 inch radius (larger is better… don’t go less).
Going less with the radius will cause premature cable wear/damage/failure.

Best Regards
Over Easy

[Be Free]

I was holding off hoping an Evinrude owner would speak from experience. This is generic advice and may be absolutely worthless.

The controls on many outboards are reversible so they can be mounted on either side of the boat. It is possible that your controls can be mounted in a way that you could get them to work the way you describe.

[KonstantinAtHouston]

Thank you all for your input. The video above explained it pretty well, and after briefly visiting the boat and checking our control handle setup with my new knowledge I am sure that this is it: our engine (Evinrude) is "push for throttle", and the control handle was set for Mercury which was "pull for throttle". Our control handle is very similar if not identical to Uflex one from the video, so that big grey lever in the center should be turned 180 deg and everything should be working. Hopefully. Will check and report tomorrow or day after, weather permitting.

[KonstantinAtHouston]

Confirming: the reason for control handle acting up was improper configuration, after we changed it from "pull for throttle" to "push for throttle", handle started to work OK.
Control hand in neutral, configured "pull for throttle" (Mercury) -- wherever the handle goes, it will pull the throttle cable:

Control hand in neutral, configured "push for throttle" (Evinrude), the central gray cam flipped up from previous pic -- wherever the handle goes from neutral, forward or reverse, it will push the throttle cable: