My 1964 40 hp Evinrude Twin runs great, but it won't stay in gear. I believe it may be trouble in the crankshaft. I called a mechanic shop and they advised me to look for a later model motor, because of the age of the motor. Replace or try to repair? Could someone give me some feed-back or suggestions?

The clutch dog in the lower gear case.Easy fix and cheap.Might be able to clean it up with a file but I wouldnt fool with that and just buy a new one and replace the water pump and seals while I got it apart.

Hint If you turn the clutch dog around, it wont stay in reverse! Don't do that though,replace it.

Thank-you for the input. I really appreciate it.
I'm going to give it a shot.

Cant quite rember how they are but I know the gear section was pretty straight forward and simple but I believe the shift cable and/or rod thay connects to it was a pain to get to.Just pay attention taking apart and reverse the order.

Good luck getting parts,may take awhile. Hint hint,Thats why I suggested turning the clutch dog around (if possible on that year and model) until the new one comes in.Better to have forward than reverse gear and be on the water.Good luck

those have a 2 piece shift rod accessable from a small plae on the mid section you have to separate to remove lower unit it has a shift cradle and a clutch dog the cradle is pinned with a bolt on the gear case a lot of times worn bushings in the upper linkage cause slop in the shifting to so replace them also, the gear housing is 2 piece also so you should be able to dissasemble with ease to inspect