My Gaffrigs are very hard to shift so I disconnected to the plate on the exh and seemed like it must be in the cable to the outdrive but after removing the outdrive the cable is not that bad. If it's in the box(in the shift box unit) how do I improve it. I really had to force it and it's almost bending the cable at the exh bracket.

Have you tried shifting the outdrive cable by hand w/ engine running?

The motor is running when you tried to shift it right?

previously,yes it was running and very hard to shift
.but now the motors are out for
Prochargers,etc

I recently had a problem where my drive was hard to shift and this is what I found, take off the plate on the top of the drive that faces you and covers the the shifting assembly, there are three bolts, two on top and one on the bottom and be careful when you remove the bolt on the bottom, there is a spring that holds a ball end to the shifter arm, see if it is worn or has had any water in there, it is a sealed area and should be dry, if you see any clean it up and apply some grease. If that does not help then you may have an issue with the gears not moving back and forth freely.

now both drives are off and all the cables move easily but when I turn the drive shaft the shifter linkage is very stiff like sliding on COLD bearing grease.It must be what you said with the gears but is that hard to access and should I just take them to someone.I have built several cars/boats/motors but never gone past here with an outdrive. thanks for any help

did you check the shift mechanism in the drive yet?

The rear cap is only held on with 3 nuts. Peice of cake. Just remember to drian the gear lube out first as the narrowoer upper 1/2 of the rear cap holds lube. When reassembling, use Mercs 2-4-C grease on the ball, spring, and shift levers. Refill the gear case with Merc HP gear lube from the bottom drain plug until the gear lube comes out the top vent plug.

I have the rear plate off and the shift mech. seems OK but without tearing it apart how do I know where the resistance is?

May need to update the shifting plate w/ new style shifting plate (inside drive). New one comes w/ newer springs(orange), and the plate will have a series of "ramps" on it to help shift better.Usually that will take care of it, if the things the guys said above don't seem to work (try their stuff first).