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After all the trials and tribulations restoring this boat and motor, I thought I would share with you kind folks that helped me with some questions, some before and after pictures of the '66 Whaler and the motor( wish I had taken some of the rusty old Merc after sitting in the barn for the last 10+ years). Before anyone mentions it....the stern light in the picture is something I threw on because the original is rusted internally and the spring pushing up the bulb needs some work so in the essence of time I just threw this other one on. Also ...I have run out of time and did not get a new rub rail nor install the Norman posts(one of which I stupidly broke while trying to straighten btw)
Wish me luck as I leave on Monday for a much needed vacation in Canada for some fun boating and fishing. Fingers crossed that the motor will hang in there.
Thanks again for all of your assistance.
ioptfm wrote:
The boat looks fantastic and I know you are going to enjoy your hours of labor.............How much mechanical work had to be done on the Motor?
Thanks Tom. Of course after sitting in a barn for so many years(and a damp dirt floored garage for more) I knew it would need the general maintenace stuff. I was told it was "rebuilt" whatever that meant, by the lady who sold it to me(it was her husbands who had died many years ago). First thing I did was check the lower unit gear lube. When I pulled the screw ...nothing. After getting a small piece of wire I coaxed out some black tar that was almost too thick to run. May have been 105 or some kind of grease. Anyways pumped a bunch of new gear lube through it to get as much changed as possible. Next on to starting. I put it in a tank and hooked it up to a battery. The key was basically frozen in the ignition and with pliers I could turn it. So I soaked and soaked it with PBlaster etc and got it to turn pretty freely( it will still not come out nor spring back by itself from start to run...more work on that). Then it would only click....cleaned and reseated contacts on wiring harness plug, removed and cleaned all contacts on starter and solenoid. Finally got it to turn over but the starter would not receed back out of the flywheel. More lube and coaxing and it freed up and started working properly.
Next problem...no spark. So off i ventured into uncharted waters for me and removed the Magnito and took it apart. Cleaned the points and re-gapped them properly...cleaned the distributor head etc. and re-installed the Magnito.
She then fired right up and after waking up for a while was purring like a kitten. Though it was pumping water like a champ I always replace an impeller on any old motor new to me when I don't know when it was last replaced. This is where my fun began. The impeller looked to be in great shape and I should have stopped right there. First off the drive shaft was pretty rusty and the impeller was stuck to it really bad so I had a lot of work cutting out the impeller. I cleaned the shaft some with ordinary 400 grit wet/dry paper and tried to put the new impeller in. It got about 2/3 of the say seated in the water pump cup and I basically had to resort to start pounding it to get it to seat all the way. Not good. Put it back together and it would not pump water. Off it came again ....out comes the dremel and cut out the new impeller. This time I got some emery paper and really sanded the shaft down as best I could down in that small cup. Put it back together and somehow in the process of manually checking out the gears in the lower unit I had gotten(what I found out a long time later) 'behind' or on the back side of the forward gear. And shifting was not working. After a discussion with a merc mechanic he told me what to do and boom she was shifting and pumping water again.
Ready to go right? Wrong..in the process of the frozen key and the no start..I had taken the shift control box apart and put it back together....now it was shifting gears right but the throttle was not moving. Again kicking myself for creating my own problems I tore the controls apart and after a long time of studying and trying and playing I got it figured out and put together properly.
So in answer to your question(sorry for the long drawn out story)....not too much mechanical work had to be done especially in the pricey parts department...and a qualified mechanic familiar with Mercs could have done the work in an hour or two( or me now ...I have certainly gotten really good and removing and re-installing the lower unit I'll tell ya).
Knock on wood she performs this week. I had told the my boys I would take them kneeboarding but I figured at 49 this old girl didn't need to be stressed that much. I am the same age and I wouldnt want to work that hard :-).
Your boat is beautiful. What did you do with the inside finish? How did you remove the old paint and what did you repaint with? War stories please. And have a great vacation.
