Lower unit differences

I picked up a lower unit for the magic motor from a guy I trade parts with. It’s in good shape but needed a skeg repair.

I had another lower unit that I’d kept around, so I cut the skeg off and took it to a welder. $40 later in had a skeg with a weld that I needed to file down.

I filed a bit and then filled with JB Weld metal filler. I could have pulled out my grinder to make it faster but I opted for a regular file and treated this like bodywork.

I then used a bit of bondo to fill some imperfections and then painted with self etching primer.

After doing all this I’ve probably got $200 in it. $100 purchase, $40 welding, plus JB Weld and paint. I get ready to install it and realize the reverse rod has a later model setup.

You can see the difference in the 3 lowers I have.

The one to the left is the one I’m working on and the reverse rod has a recessed area for a later model. The middle is what I need (1964-1967). The right one is from an earlier (1963) model.

I’ll write about the 1963 in a separate post.