My question: What does "gear shift" mean?

In 1963 the idea of shifting gears was fairly new to Mercury. Older models
simply stopped and started running the engine backwards to back up. I knew some
racers who stayed with the 50's style for years after that because they thought
the "one way" foot was tougher, slimmer and it was certainly easier to work on.

(Greg) wrote in message ...
My question: What does "gear shift" mean?

In 1963 the idea of shifting gears was fairly new to Mercury. Older models
simply stopped and started running the engine backwards to back up. I knew some
racers who stayed with the 50's style for years after that because they thought
the "one way" foot was tougher, slimmer and it was certainly easier to work on.

Yes, these motors were funny. I think it was called "Direct Reversing"
and required a fairly complicated ignition setup. It happened that the
motor when stopped and reversed didnt restart ... bad if you are just
about heading to the launch

The reason for this "invention" was that Merc didnt have a strong
enough gearcase for their powerheads. Luckily this changed later on
and the direct reversing was put to rest.

Matt