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  1. hotrod53

    To sandblast aluminum power head cover or not to sandblast the cover?

    My '77 Merc 500 top power head cover was peeling and looked like heck. Last year I sanded and feathered all bare metal and bad edges. I used aluminum primer followed by Mercury phantom black and Mercury clear, after buffing it up, it shined like a new penny! Before the year was over, I started...
  2. hotrod53

    Merc 500, can't get the prop off

    I see some fishing line wrapped around my prop shaft so I decided to pull the prop. I was able to remove the keeper and the nut, but the prop doesn't want to slide off of the shaft. I squirted a little PB Blaster on it, but no help so far. Any suggestions for getting it off? It's been on there...
  3. hotrod53

    How often do you change your center fire plugs?

    I'm going on year 4 on these plugs. They look good and the Merc 500 runs pretty well but five been noticing it stalling a bit more from idle to gear. I'm sure that I could use a few more RPMs too, I just had the throttle and shifter cable replaced. How often do you replace these?
  4. hotrod53

    Painting or sealing the top part of my transom, what should I use?

    4 years ago when I replaced my transom, I glued the 2 layers with marine epoxy and then coated thevwhole package. The wood looked real nice and kinda like as if it was covered with urethane. After the first or second winter the coating started to crack or check. I think it's because snow can get...
  5. hotrod53

    Mercontrol wires falling apart inside the control box, now what?

    I had the Mercontrol apart to replace the cables and discovered that a previous owner had made a wiring nightmare inside. All of the solder joints on the ignition switch were cold solder joints, wires were fraying, and it was just a whole lot of ugly. Long story short, my wires are all cracked...
  6. hotrod53

    Anything scary about disassembling a Mercontrol?

    I have a feeling that my cam may be bad in my Mercontrol. The F-N-R all works great and the enriched works normally, but I have to go to 50% on the throttle before it comes up off of of idle. From what I have read, I'm thinking that the cam that pulls the cable may be shot. The problem with this...
  7. hotrod53

    Onboard charger questions

    I have two batteries, starter battery way in the back, trolling in front of the console. The 2 bank chargers all seem to come with a 5 or 6 foot charging cable. If I centrally locate the charger up under the console, I can easily reach the trolling battery but the cable will not be long enough...
  8. hotrod53

    Winterizing my Merc 500, did I do OK?

    Obviously lower unit oil change, that's a given. Over the last 3 seasons I have done this the same way, I just wanted to see what the general opinion of my method is. I did not run the motor and fog it, that was tough to do by myself. I opened the throttle 100% and stuck the fog oil straw in...
  9. hotrod53

    how often do you change your plugs?

    When I got my 1977 500 Thunderbolt 4 cylinder, the original owner said "never go out in the water without spare plugs". Having worked on 2 stroke dirtbike engines for many years, I know that when they run right, the plugs will last a while. Install the wrong plugs or mix your fuel wrong...
  10. hotrod53

    1979 70HP Mercury Thunderbolt Cold Start Problems

    My 1977 Thunderbolt starts flawlessly.... I pump the primer ball 15 times, press the choke, put the enricher bar straight up, and it fires right up. I can tell you that if you have a weak battery or the motor spins slow, it won't start. I almost killed my battery last weekend using the livewell...
  11. hotrod53

    Basic livewell operation questions from a nube

    I've had my boat on the water for 3 years now. Because we are basically catch and release fishermen, we rarely fill the livewell, actually I typically store my anchor in it. My livewell is a tank under the captain's seat, it holds probably 10-15 gallons if full. When I rebuilt the boat, I...
  12. hotrod53

    Expectations of a starting battery, would like you experience and opinion.

    I installed a new starting battery 3 years ago in my 16' Sylvan to turn over its 50 hp Merc. Typically I charge the battery over the winter and leave it on float, I install it in the boat, then I never have to touch it again. This is year 3 after the rebuild, both years 1 and 2 I got a dead...
  13. hotrod53

    Is the sun hard on Merc paint? Looks like I wasted a lot of time!

    A year ago this spring I pulled the top off of my 1977 Merc 500, the paint has started to flake after 37 years in the sun. I stripped it in some places, feathered other spots, and primed it with green rustoleum self etching aluminum primer. I then coated it with Merc black and Merc clear...
  14. hotrod53

    What fluid is used in a Mercruiser power tilt?

    This is a little odd.. but I have 2 Mercruiser cylinders on my hotrod for tilting the front end. I have a hydraulic pump that provides pressure to the cylinders and it currently has hydrauilic jack oil in it. The seals leak a tiny bit around the shaft and I have to top it off about once a year...
  15. hotrod53

    Properly tieing a 16' boat to a dock for a week of dockage

    I know its a stupid question for most.... but I've been a boat owner for only 4 years and I have never left my boat in the water overnight. Each time I use my boat I trailer it in and trailer it out. I'm going on a week's long vacation this summer and I'm taking the boat. The owner of the cabin...
  16. hotrod53

    Any tip on removing 36 year old registration numbers from the side of the hull?

    My registration numbers are 36 years old, as you can imagine, they are in need of replacement. I have 16 to do, the first 2 took me an hour, my thumbs can't take it anymore! I resorted to a hair drier and a wooden shim that used as a scraper but there has to be a better way.
  17. hotrod53

    Can I replace my tongue on the trailer without lifting the boat?

    I may be getting a replacement tongue since I have always felt mine was suspect (rust). My thought was to put jack stands under the back of the trailer in 2 places, then a jack stand under the keel up front. Has anyone done this and will it work, or will the structural integrity be so...
  18. hotrod53

    looking for 1978 Sylvan SeaMaster original specs, brochure, ect

    The Seamaster seems to be a bastard model, only a few years produced. There is downloadable info on just about every model but this one. Just for kicks, I'd love to find original specs, sales brochures, ect on this model as well as the 1977 Mercury 500 Thunderbolt.
  19. hotrod53

    1977 Merc 500 Thunderbolt minor water jacket leak, should I fix it?

    After the season concluded I noticed that I had a sign of a trickle of water coming out of the #1 spark plug area. I know that this 4 cylinder has no head, but a water jacket. I was wondering if I should pull the power head and fix this or not. I talked to a marine mechanic who suggested that I...
  20. hotrod53

    Should I be concerned about my trailer tongue and should I replace it?

    When I restored my boat and trailer 3 years ago, this will be season 4, I noticed that the tongue had some decent rust where the tongue was bolted to the piece that the winch mounts on. The trailer hadn't moved in 13 years and water/snow had gotten on there and caused rust. I sanded it, painted...
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