How To Convert These Motors ;  We get used to things being one way or the other, and that usually is not bad as far as familiarity.  This for years being for the small to mid sized motors the shifting lever has always been on the RH (Port) side.  Same as for these OMC motors, but in 1993 when  the large block 9.9s came out, they moved the shifting lever to the mid front.   Some benefits??  Maybe.

   This never really occurred to me before, then with this newer version, along with Yamaha and Mercury also going the same route, (not sure who was first).   However when I got serious with a lake/river boat, (14' aluminum StarCraft with a 1991 15hp Johnson) on it that, along with me being 88 years old along with low back issues, it began to seem maybe they had something going here.

   Then when I saw three different conversions versions for this online, where all were using the same principle of the same type of conversion, that simply bolted on these 9.9/15 hp motors I got interested.  So I saved a couple of photos, and this last winter, decided to see what it would take to somewhat copy these conversions.   With no dimensions I was somewhat shooting in the dark, however it did not take a lot, just make main pieces and work out the linkage between the two. 

   However I may have a slight advantage as I have been a machinist for nearly all my life and still have a well equipped machine shop.  My version was slightly simpler in the linkage, but more complicated in the base plate than the one in the photos.  My reasoning for the later was that I wanted the pivot shaft enclosed so it could be packed in grease and not exposed.

    My reason for trying this conversion was, (1) there were no alterations to the motor.  (2) And in my small boat the rear seat was closer to the transom so that I would have to twist around, or fumble to find the shifting lever on the far side, all the while trying to maintain the trim of the hull for this boat.  And if this was on the river, where I may be making a drift, (with the motor in neutral) but suddenly needed power, it may be a safety issue.

Here you see the components of my front shift conversion

       In making this, the hardest part was getting the slotted pivot shaft to upright arm a tight fit.  I used a 1/2" mild steel rod, turned it down to 3/8" to fit inside the tubing that I had braze welded to the bottom of a 1/8" plate.   This shaft had a head on one end and 3/8" threads on the other.  The threaded end was milled so that it had a 1/4" thick centered flat.   Then the upright arm drilled and filed to match the shaft flat.  

    I turned the center of this shaft down slightly for 2 reasons, (1) for grease retention, and (2) because in my welding the tube to the plate, it slightly warped the tube, so this gave me a bit of reprieve in fitting.  Well, I found that my flats were slightly wider on the end than at the base of the threads, which gave some sloppiness, so I added a dab of brazing to the inner flat end, filed that down making the flat slightly tapered on the inner end, to give me a secure fitting on the upright.  It was easier to do this than make a new tighter upright arm.

    This base plate had to be shorter to the left (on the motor's mounting base) enough for the shifting knob to clear the tiller handle as seen in the photos below.

    The handle was a 3/8" rod threaded on the upper end to fit a plastic threaded knob.   This handle was welded to the pivot shaft.  However if I was going to make another, I would simply thread both ends of the shaft, weld a 3/8" nut to the handle so that where on final assembly, just position the handle where needed and then weld the nut to the shaft.   There are two (one on each end) thick 3/8" Nylon thrust washers on the pivot shaft.   All nuts were stainless steel Nylock.

   The linkage rod was made of 1/4" rod, threaded on the front Ell, and with a 3/32" pin centered on the rear, in about 5/16" on the short Ell.   This lock pin was positioned on the linkage rod so they entered the original cable shifting mounting hole, and then rotated 90 degrees secured this to the original shifting lever.  The length of this rod can be done last as determined after fitting the other parts together.  Here, you need to fit it in reverse for the rearward movement of the handle knob against the motor's front cowling is the limiting factor, as the forward position has lots of room out and down.

   I found that the 1/8" X 3/4" (it could have been  1/2' wide) steel upright arm was about the right length with the holes being about 3 1/2" apart, which line up horizontally with the original shifting rod's hole.

    The base plate mounting holes were drilled to match the front motor bracket which was factory drilled for mounting a cable steering attachment.  These holes on the early motors was 1/4", but enlarged on the later motors to 5/16".

Here you see the assembled unit of my front shift conversion	Here you see the assembled unit at a slight side view

     Then I used this base as a platform for adding a small hour meter/tack.  It is a compact fit, but still gives me full view of the meter along with unhindered usage of all the front controls and starter handle.

     This hour meter was previously mounted inside the cover on the powerhead, which was OK, except I had no access to the tack while running on the water.   This is the type of unit that uses a single wire which is wrapped around one of the spark plug wires.

Here you see the mounting of my hour meter/tack