1961 Merc 700 FGS

[cjreents]

I started restoring my 1961 Glasspar Citation two years ago and finished the final touches this last spring. The boat is powered by a 1961 Merc 700 Full Gear Shift which I've spent the last couple of months restoring.

When I bought the boat, the previous owner said that the engine was not cooling properly. So the first thing I did was order a water pump (impeller) kit and fuel pump kits from iboats.com. While waiting for my order, I began degreasing and cleaning the motor.

Before:

After:

 

[cjreents]

Re: 1961 Merc 700 FGS

After replacing the fuel pump gaskets and seals, the water pump, and the spark plugs, I began started sanding, priming and repainting the engine.

Used duplicolor self-etching primer:

Then used the Ford Wimbledon White from duplicolor - perfect match:

 

[cjreents]

Re: 1961 Merc 700 FGS

The new water impeller:

Fuel pumps rebuilt:

New spark plugs installed:

After painting:

 

[cjreents]

Re: 1961 Merc 700 FGS

The wrap around cowl before:

Used a wire wheel to remove the paint:

 

[cjreents]

Re: 1961 Merc 700 FGS

The cowl after paint shots

Primed with the self-etching primer:

Painted the gloss black first, then masked off to paint the white stripes:

Then masked to reveal a 1/4" on the bottom and top of the cowl. This was painted Wimbledon White (the stripes were pure white):

Then the clear coat:

 

[cjreents]

Re: 1961 Merc 700 FGS

Before painting:

Front of cowl (lot's of masking)!

 

[cjreents]

Re: 1961 Merc 700 FGS

Top of engine cover:

 

[cjreents]

Re: 1961 Merc 700 FGS

After getting the motor repainted, I ran started it using a garbage can full of water. Water started coming out the top (cylinder 1) spark plug hole. I was able to find a water gasket from http://www.sea-way.com.

That meant removing the powerhead to get to all of the bolts:

Checked the rubber seal on the lower crankcase, only had to replace the O-ring:

Ordered new shims:

 

[cjreents]

Re: 1961 Merc 700 FGS

On the first trip to the river, I fired up the engine and the timing belt broke while at the dock. Once again, called SeaWay marine and they shipped a new belt to me the next day.

I used a harmonic balancer puller from harbor freight to pull the flywheel. For $10 it worked like champ:
http://www.harborfreight.com/46-piece-bolt-puller-set-37824.html

When aligning the flywheel to set timing, I was at first aligning the line on the cover plate with the flywheel and not the arrow on the actual distributor pulley.

Not this way:

There is an arrow under the cover plate, it's not yet aligned in this pic:

After replacing the timing belt, we took the boat out for it's maiden voyage... it was an exciting day!

Now, I just need the new decals:

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1961 Merc 700 FGS

Beautiful work. Thanks for sharing a great restoration.

 

[coolguy147]

Re: 1961 Merc 700 FGS

holy shT

sweet man! video on a cold start? and it running? idle and such?

one queston though! where did you strap the block when you lifted it?

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: 1961 Merc 700 FGS

Great pictures........That engine is a classic. Does seaway carry parts for 1960 models?

 

[cjreents]

Re: 1961 Merc 700 FGS

Thanks for the comments guys. SeaWay Marine (out of Seattle) was absolutely fantastic to deal with. They carried every part that I needed, were reasonably priced and shipped the parts the same day.

The website: http://www.sea-way.com

-------------

I have some video of the engine running in the garbage can full of water, I'll try to post the video later tonight.


Thanks,
Chris

 

[mrallen007]

Re: 1961 Merc 700 FGS

That is a seriously sweet job!! Nice work!!