'57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

[1crazyfordguy]

Hi my name's Ed - I'm five minutes new on this forum

So I'm 18, still in high school, leaving for college in the fall, and trying to get my boat ready to go as soon as the lakes thaw out... trying to live it up while it lasts.

Q.1. I bought the 12' aluminum hull from a friend at school for fifty bucks, unknown manufacturer, however the oldest registration sticker I peeled off it was dated 1968. I fixed some dents, welded a few holes, repainted and textured the floor, painted the seats, replaced the transom boards, and welded some braces in the transom corners (stiffened it up a little bit). How do you put a nice finish on aluminum hulls? Someone told me to wetsand it but I figured I'd take the advice from someone who really knows...

Q.2. The '57 Mercury Mark 10 was bought brand new by my great uncle way back in the day, then it was sold to my dad, who let it sit in the attic for 30 years. When I got the boat, I drug it out and got to work replacing fuel lines, gaskets, impeller, etc. I finally got it all together and fired it up on an engine stand with a drum of water, everything checked out except the gearshift. The prop turned the same direction in both forward and reverse, and it kept turning in neutral. When I first started taking stuff apart, I took off the lower unit inspection plate and the rod, springs, and spacers all flew out. I found them all after searching the garage for an hour, but I don't remember how they all go back in. Does anyone have a picture of how these things go back in there? I would greatly appreciate it.

Here's a few crappy pics:

 

[Laddies]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

The reason that rev. don't work is the rev. pawl is not engaging or spring has the end broken off. All this does not matter much as after 30 years the w/pump will fail and NO ONE will repair it.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

Yep, look for a new motor. Those old spring shifts are a BEAR to work on, you need special tools, and even seasoned Merc wrenches won't touch them.

 

[jbjennings]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

This is no help, but I have to ask out of curiosity.....
First--you said you welded your boat--do you have access to aluminum welding equipment? If so, COOL! I'd love to weld aluminum. If not, how'd you do it? (I'd like to try your method)
Second--you said you changed the impeller on your mark 10? IMPRESSIVE!!
I tried it once and after looking down the midsection with the powerhead off and seeing as it actually looked impossible to me, I didn't even try. I later learned that a special mercury tool is usually needed to do it and the guys that know how and have the tool make good money changing impellers on the side. I'm not in any way trying to be smartaleck or sarcastic, but if you did it, I'd love to know how just for fun, as I gave away my '57 mark 10 lower unit. Your mark 10 looks really nice but I have nightmares about being forced to work on mine.
By the way, your boat looks nice.
Good luck,
JBJ

 

[FooLingToo]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

Hey 1crazyfordguy - if you still need help putting the springs back in - I can send you instructions/pics. Email me at fullerag@hotmail.com
Congrats on changing the waterpump - these motors are really not that hard to fix - it's all about taking your time.

FooLingToo

 

[1crazyfordguy]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

Laddies: I went through the lower unit, took the whole driveshaft and trunion carrier assembly out, and all the spring ends and pawls are intact.

JBJ: My dad's got a Miller Cricket (mig) and Miller Synchrowave (tig). We welded up some of the holes and transom bracing (I'll have pics soon) with the tig welder. The key is to run very low heat and take your time to prevent blowing holes in the aluminum and from expanding and warping. After welding the holes, I touched the spots up with a 1" pneumatic belt sander and blended them in some so you can barely tell they're there.

To go about getting the impeller done, I fiddled around with it, took off the lower unit, threaded out the jam jut, and took out the bearing, but that stupid impeller cartridge didn't come out so I had to take off the powerhead and push it out from the top - I used a good sized aluminum rod and 'gently' popped it out - not knowing there was a special tool to get it out. So I bought all the parts, and put it back together. I've fixed and rebuilt a lot of stuff for being 18, and this was by far the most complicated - especially the throttle/shifter lever assembly. The key to it though is to just keep track of how everything comes apart and label every little screw, nut, bolt, spring, etc. on a piece of paper on a workbench.

FooLingToo: I will shoot you an email - I have talked to you before about a year ago or so when I began this project and I had the picture of the springs and that whole assembly you originally sent me, but my old email provider had the wonderful automatic maintnance feature that deleted it.

 

[FooLingToo]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

1crazyfordguy: I'm envious of your access to welding equipment - mig and tig would be handy...

Just for anyone else thinking of tackling an autotranny ("slinky drive") it is best to start by getting a copy of the Mercury service manual and a parts list. Mercury instructions are confusing - but it's a good starting point!

As for pulling out the waterpump cartridge, the best tool I found is a slide hammer/puller with 2 expanding hooks on the end. A couple of tugs and out it comes! The tool cost me 12 bucks - money well spent.

FooLingToo

 

[1crazyfordguy]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

I'm envious of my dad's ability to use the mig and tig! I mean I can weld, but it's crappy looking. He was a welder by profession for at least 15 years so he does all the fancy beaded aluminum welds and all sorts of cool stuff.

It would have been really helpful to have a manual when I started working on the thing but I didn't go totally blind - I had a barts blow-up of everything. Bad thing is the parts blowup doesn't show how the little stuff, like the shifter pawl ***'y, goes together.

My dad said something about a slide hammer and we explored a few hardware stores and didn't find anything. But it's good I took the powerhead off though - I had an o-ring to replace that goes around the splines at the top of the driveshaft. On that subject, does anyone know what the 'slinger' does and where it goes? My intuition told me it goes on the driveshaft in the middle, but I don't see its purpose. It's like a wide o-ring - almost a 1/4" length of rubber hose.

 

[Laddies]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

fordguy, ck your PMs

 

[jbjennings]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

I'm very jealous! You are only 18 and can weld aluminum and rebuild a merc mark 10? Wow! I'll tell you what--I didn't put too much effort into my mark 10 but I didn't want any part of it as it was more than I thought I could handle. You must have a talent for the mechanic stuff for sure. I would love to have one of those aluminum welders but I hear they're expensive.....I can't wait to see your motor when you get it fixed! I hope you will post some pics of it running. I saw a mark 10 on youtube running the other day and it was NEAT. I liked how it spit water out multiple exhaust holes and the main hole on the back. I still have the powerhead and midsection to mine, so if you need any parts you're welcome to them, just pm me.
Good luck,
JBJ

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

You can get a Merc service manual on CD for 1940-1965 models at www.acmeoutboards.com

 

[1crazyfordguy]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

I will hopefully put up some pics tomorrow of our welding work and maybe get the motor out and mount it up on the boat in the back of the truck. I hear it's snowing tomorrow (which SUCKS) so it may be in the polebarn.

That's cool - the CD's are $25 and the paper manual is $50 from the dealer. I may be getting one of those if I don't solve this shifting problem.

 

[1crazyfordguy]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

Lots of sunshine today! Got my pics taken, but no repairs made yet.

Notice the holes cut in the aluminum so the motor clamps can still grab into the transom wood.

 

[Doug Redinger]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

Congratulations on your waterpump rebuild. I too rebuilt the waterpump on a 1960 merc 100, which is identical I believe to your Mark 10. I had the service manual for the Merc outboards 1965 and prior which was a big help. At first the instructions seemed somewhat confusing, but once I got into it it started to make some sense. I made a wrench for removing the threaded retainer using a piece of 1/2" conduit and a cut off piece of hardened concrete nail. I drilled a hole in the end of the conduit the same diameter as the concrete nail and drove the nail in with about a 1/4" sticking out each side of the conduit. Drilled hole in other end of conduit and drove a screwdriver thru the hole. Was then able to unthread the retainer. Believe it or not I used a large fish mouthspreader I use for large nothern's up in canada to remove the pump cartridge. Installed new seals and o-ring on cartridge per manuals instructions and then reinstalled. Getting the springs installed right on the trunnion took a little trial and error, and the same with getting the pawls and springs installed under the coverplate. If you follow the directions in the manual carefully and use the homemade tools I discribed, anyone can do this, even my totally innept merc dealer.

 

[steelespike]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

Hard to tell from the pictures but it appears the antivent plate(just above the prip) may be signifigantly below the bottom of the boat.Once you know the motor will work you can raise the transom enough to get the anti vent plate even with the bottom.You could rig it like a jack plate so you can fine tune the height.That little boat could really sing with that motor.From the looks of things the 10 may be too much.Be really careful.

 

[jbjennings]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

Ed, you might consider using my midsection, etc., to convert your's into a shortshaft like mine if your's isn't a short shaft. It appears that is what your boat needs. But it may just look that way from your picture. IF your transom is 15 inches tall you need a shortshaft. I'll try email you some pics tonight if I can.
later,
JBJ

 

[Scaaty]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

Kid, I gotta give ya a LOT of credit here....the Merc L/U/pump stuff, and the welding?
Ya got a future, and a heck of a brain..."trudge on"....ya doing good!
I like "smart" people...that refuse to give up....and willing to learn...and I wish ya the best....you are few and far between the "masses"...and I wish you the best of luck with it.
Nothing in the WORLD, like something..."I did it myself"....again, good luck, and post any problems. Lots of old salts here...with free info too get ya "wet" again...
Wish ya the best on the "project"..!
Just don't give up...

 

[jbjennings]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

I can't stand it any longer.....can you post a better shot of that old FORD?
I actually like the 70's FORD pickups. Your boat would look really neat behind that old Ford. Let me get off this computer and take my old mark 10 apart and get some pics.
Later,
JBJ

 

[1crazyfordguy]

Re: '57 Merc Mark 10 Q's

Yeah it would've been much easier by the looks of it to just slide out the driveshaft and leave the powerhead on and all that. It was probably good that I took the powerhead off though because every gasket on the thing was squirting water all over the place after I rebuilt the pump

I was out there yesterday - had my little bro turning the motor over (without the sparkplugs) with a heavy-duty drill by the flywheel nut so I could run it through the gears. Forward works good. Reverse works, but it takes so much effort to get it moving it almost killed the drill. Neutral doesn't quite work right: it turns in the forward gear direction, but if you grab the prop and hold onto it, the motor will freewheel... it's tense enough that if you start it in neutral on the water it'll still take off. Dunno.

Steelspike, from the pictures, it looks like the antivent plate is low, but the "prip" (never heard it called that before) is actually level with the bottom of the boat. My dad was thinking about making a jack plate for it, but apparently, when you turn, hard, it'll come out of the water and zing the motor up a few too many rpm.

Thanks for the credit Scaaty - half of it's my dad's though

JBJ is there a section in this forum for pics and stories of cars and such? There's a couple of interesting Fords I could display