1968 Mercury 50hp lower Unit Removal

[oregonboatnewb]

Hey yall,

I got a 1968 500 50HP evinrude, and i'm replacing the lower unit, does anyone know where i can find a easy How To, or Diagram on how to remove, and replace the lower unit... I know it will be in the service manual, but it will take a week for it to get here, and i need to find out if mine is a 11 or 13 spline so i can get a replacement on its way !

Thanks Mucho !

 

[Laddies]

Re: 1968 Mercury 50hp lower Unit Removal

 

[oregonboatnewb]

Re: 1968 Mercury 50hp lower Unit Removal

I keep reading it, but not knowing what the terms are, this is going to be hard to follow, do you know of any write up's with more pictures of maybe step by step ? OR Laymen's terms

 

[oregonboatnewb]

Re: 1968 Mercury 50hp lower Unit Removal

Are there more pictures in that book of yours ? I still can't find anything good online with pictures... someone tried to talk to me over the phone, but i think his was a newer year, as he was describing to remove bolts i didnt have.

 

[Laddies]

Re: 1968 Mercury 50hp lower Unit Removal

I thhink this is for you serial group. http://www.mercruiserparts.com/selectDocs.asp?doc_nbr=48425

 

[oregonboatnewb]

Re: 1968 Mercury 50hp lower Unit Removal

I got that old son of a ***** off this evening... and for anyone in the future who is doing so... I took pictures of my step by step method...

You will need, 5/8 open wrench, 5/8 socket / 9/16 socket, and large allen key... Also i used 2x4, and rubber mallet to get lower unit off, once it was freed from screws...

Start off by taking off your Whale fin if you have on.

If not, start by inserting large hex into top of lower unit, and unscrew bolt until triangle piece above propeller falls off.

You don't have to, but it makes taking the rest of the bolts off alot easier ,if you take the propeller off... use a piece of wood to hold it still, and back the large nut off... the rest slides right off..

Once done, will look like this.

Then look up above where the propeller was...
These two bolts are the first to go (tho it doesnt truly matter, but it worked great this way for me)
One is 5/8 the other 9/16

 

[oregonboatnewb]

Re: 1968 Mercury 50hp lower Unit Removal

After your done with that, start to lower down it the lower by unscrewing the 5/8 screw's, its good to rotate back and forth, doing each one 5-10 turns or so, just to get the spacing even.

After the nut backs up to the top, you keep going, and it will push the lower end down.

(SEE THE GAP)
After that i put my 2x4 on the place where the whale fin was, and since i didnt care about the old broken lower unit, i bashed it off using the wood and a mallet... bash even, and dont hit any other part of the motor, this was the original lower unit, and didn't come off very easy.