Replacement for 1980ish Evinrude control box

[ebol5]

I have yet to check that Skools. But I did get the shift lever handle to come *apart after a dose of PB Blaster and a few (dozen) taps with a hammer. The two pcs, the handle (outside) and the Cam wheel (inside) are joined by a tapered spline and held by the allen head bolt. It wasn't corroded, just bound together thankfully...Actually, it doesn't look bad inside, I cleaned it up and greased it and will get to checking gear shift cable stiffness after I re-assemble. *
The one thing that is worn, and is the reason it has to be "wiggled" into neutral, is a small 3/8 dia. plastic pin that is sandwiched radially against the cam wheel by a spring loaded plunger and falls into a detent when the shift lever is moved into the neutral position. It is worn almost flat on the cam contact side so it no longer matches the radius of the detent *and doesn't seat right. I am now on a mission to find or fabricate a replacement pin. It basically is a 3/8" dia. pc of plastic rod about 3/8" long. So far the prime candidate is from the handle of a plastic mixing spoon that I cut off.. I will look around at Ace hardware etc (nothing at Home Depot) before I settle on the spoon handle. The pin is meant to be sacrificial, so I don't want to use metal or anything that would damage the cam.... *more later