TOPIC: Help? How to adjust my Mercontrols

I have a 1970's Mercury 500 50HP outboard with Mercontrols. It seems like there is a lot of play in the controls. When i put it in foward, it goes almost to the 10 o'clock postition before it starts to throttle up. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I hate only being able to go 5 MPH up the river.

check to see if the butterflies are opening in the carbs throat

is this motor and controls new to you, did you make any adjustment, since last used, etc etc

The motor and controls are new to me. I havent made any adjustments since the last time i took it out. I replaced the water pump impeller when I first bought it, took it out once and had these issues, then I drained and replaced the gear lube. I took it out one more time to see if it might have just been a binding-up in gears problem, but i had the same issues.

disconnect the cables from the motor....test the cables for unrestricted movement, then check to see if the butterflies are opening on the carbs before you reinstall the shift and throttle cables
this wil help determine where the issue is