68 Merc 200

[Arkman]

Re: 68 Merc 200

I have a local motor repair guy basically telling me that its not worth it to fix the seals cause all I'm going to do is slow the water down. And that steel drive shaft is going to be crap. I don't know what to think. I don't have a ton of money to put into this thing, and I certainly don't have any money to buy a newer one.

What do you guys think? I get the feeling this guy is kind of a d-bag, but I'm sure he knows more then me. The seal kit is only like 50 bucks or so, not a ton to try to get it going but I certainly don't want to just waste 50 bucks if I cant keep the water out.

I don't know what to think.

 

[kartman]

Re: 68 Merc 200

you said that it sat in storage for 15 years. im betting that the seals in the lower end are junk. dry and cracked. if it was mine, i would replace the seals and prove this d-bag wrong. that and it feels AWSOME when your on the lake and you know that you dont have 1/4 the money tied up in your engine as the other people! but im a diy kind of guy.

 

[serdafied]

Re: 68 Merc 200

Hello Arkman,
I have just bought the same model and year engine you have, but with out electric start. I was wondering where you were getting your parts from?
Thank's
SerdaFied

 

[Arkman]

Re: 68 Merc 200

The best place to look is this site: http://www.eastcoastmarineservice.com/196769Merc200.htmhttp://www.eastcoastmarineservice.com/196769Merc200.htm

I haven't actually bought anything from there yet but that is a great place to get part numbers from. To tell you the truth, the only part I've actually bought as of now was a gasket kit for a carburetor. That I just got from someone it town because its a bit more normal then some of the other parts. Look at that old merc site. Find the right part number then just google it. Thats how I price shop so far. The seal kit on old merc is $80, and here on iboats its 40ish.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'm more then happy to tell you what I can. Which isn't much

 

[JGra]

Re: 68 Merc 200

Hello, here is a picture of mine that I have been rebuilding/restoring. It sat for about 15 years. I replaced all the wiring, rebuilt the carb and fuel pump, replaced all the fuel lines and fittings and gave it a good cleaning and sanding and put a fresh coat of paint on her. She does not run bad for a 41 year old motor. I just have the lower end stll to do. It has a small oil leak and although the water pump is working I am going to replace the impeller and the seals this weekend. Mine has the electric start also. I have mine wired to a toggle and pust button switch. I have found all kinds of information on this motor on the web. If you need anything let me know. I may be able to help.

 

[7920hpMercury]

Re: 68 Merc 200

Another Super looking 68!

Seaway Marine in Washington state has lots of NLA parts too.

Grubbs is in Penn I think and is also maybe called Old Mercs. Google search can help. I think they call it a Speedi Sleeve. You can also call them and ask. Grubbs is the only place I have seen that offers a sleeve like this. This stainless steel speedi sleeve goes on the carbon steel drive shaft where the seals ride.

You can get a parts list for this motor from Mercury direct which is very useful.

Agree, try the gaskets on the drain and vent plugs.

On the electric start, not sure. I would take a look at the subsequent years up electrical diagram and see if you can figure it out. Not a lot of change I would think.

Rebuilding lower unit is a doable job, you will need a cover nut tool. I made mine by cutting slots in a pipe (get the right size) or a pipe fitting (a tee works and you can drill a hole in back side of the tee for the prop shaft and have 2 pipe nipples on each side for handles. Having a new cover nut to reference for fit for cutting slots simplifies this job. You can also buy a tool made for this on ebay. The rest of it is regular tools.

Good luck and worth fixing particularly since it is in such good shape! Lower units can be frustrating though. No oil in lower unit for storage is ok. I would also get a compression gauge (auto is fine) and check compression. Should be over 100psi and within 10 to 15psi top and bottom to run decent.

 

[Arkman]

Re: 68 Merc 200

JGra-
I'm very interested in the electric start. As far as I can tell I have everything internally that I need. I'm just missing the external wiring. Did you buy yours or make yours? Any info you can give me on that part would be greatly appreciated!

Your motor looks great! I thought mine looked good until I saw yours. Did you repaint it? Find new decals? Its in great shape, I'm excited to get back to work on mine but I have to get ready for a trip to the Boundary Waters this next weekend, so the motor will have to wait few days.

 

[JGra]

Re: 68 Merc 200

Thanks, The external wires was on there when I got the boat about 15 years ago. I just replaced all the old wires and swithces with new stuff. Mine is also set up with a electric choke. I have one toggle switch for Ign, one push botton switch for start and one momentry toggle for the choke. Its only about 4 wire that you have to run out of the motor. I will try and draw you something up that shows where everything goes. Send me your e-mail address. And yes I did give it a good sanding and a fresh coat of paint. The stickers are kinda faded but they want about 100 buck for a decal kit. Its just now worth it to me. I am woking on getting some made for about 35 bucks. I tackled replaceing the water pump impeller and shift shaft seal yesterday. It was not too bad. The lower unit came off fairly easy. The hardest part was getting the impeller housing off. It was kind of stuck. After working with it I finally got it off after about 20 minutes of carefull prying. The drive shat was not in the best of shape and was kinda pitted up so I just cleaned it up the best that I could. I never could get the lower housing off so I could replace the lower seal. It was stuck pretty good and I did not want to risk breaking it. I was really after the impeller. The impeller, although was pumping and peeing did not have a very good stream was in bad shape. Three of the fins were all but detached and 1 was missing half of the fin. After getting it all back together and starting it up it pees like a garden hose now with a great stream. Its almost ready for the water. I am going to check the lower unit oil after the first trip out. I was getting a little bit of water in the lower end. I am hoping the upper seal helped. If I am still getting some water in it I will jsut change it every couple of times out. It would be very expensive to replace everything in the lower unit plus I want to see how it does on the water before I put anymore dollers in the motor. The oil is very cheap. Good luck with yours. Let me know If I can help. I spent 20 years working in a car dealership but really never messed with any outboards untill now.

 

[Arkman]

Re: 68 Merc 200

Ok, My email address is JoshCaroon @ gmail.com Just take out the spaces before and after the @ symbol. Let me know if you get that decal kit figured out, I would be interested in that as well. Thank for the info!

 

[serdafied]

Re: 68 Merc 200

Thanks a lot. im looking for a complete water pump kit. so far i have been striking out.

 

[Arkman]

Re: 68 Merc 200

JGra- Do you have a part number you can find on that wiring harness by chance? I can't seem to find much about what is out there, it would be nice to have a part number for reference.

Thanks!

 

[JGra]

Re: 68 Merc 200

Here is a link that I used. It breaks down the entire engine with every nut and bolt and includes part numbers. I hope this helps you, it helped me.

https://www.mercruiserparts.com/selectDocs.asp?doc_nbr=48711

 

[JGra]

Re: 68 Merc 200

Here is also a link to alot of good electrical drawing for the Merc 200 with or without points.

http://www.maxrules.com/MERCwireindex.html

 

[chrishayes]

Re: 68 Merc 200

Jgra, hate to hijack but how many cans of phantom black did you go through? Did you use primer? That thing looks top notch!

 

[JGra]

Re: 68 Merc 200

This was a low budget paint job. I sanded it down real well and then gave it a good wipe down. Went to wal mart and bought 1 can of primer and 2 cans of good quality gloss black paint. I put 1 coat of primer and 2 coats of paint. Total spent on paint job was $10.00. It came out really well compared to what it looked like before. Thanks

 

[Arkman]

Re: 68 Merc 200

JGra,

Do you have any before photos? I'm still a little confused by the wiring. Do you have an actual wiring harness from mercury on the outside or did you just make something yourself. Those electrical drawings helped. Now I know what each pin does, but Im still struggling to figure out where to get that external wiring harness. I can find them, I just dont know if they work for my set up.

 

[JGra]

Re: 68 Merc 200

The external harness on mine is homemade. Like I said its only 4 wires that you have to run out plus 2 heavy gauge cables that run to the battery for the hot and ground. I will try and draw something up of exactly how mine is wired. Its pouring down rain here now so it may be a day or 2 before I can get it to you. Its not hard. I just bought my switchs from Lowes and mounted them in the corner of the boat. In all the parts searching I have done I have not come across that harness for sale anywhere. I will e-mail you the pictures and drawings to you as soon as I can. I will also include my phone number also.


And to the person who was looking for the water pump kit. I bought the complete kit off of e-bay. He has more. I came in original package. Check the link below and check your serial number with the ones listed. It was a good price for the complete kit.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-...5526748QQptZBoatQ5fPartsQ5fAccessoriesQ5fGear

 

[Arkman]

Re: 68 Merc 200

Jgra-
Any advice on painting the motor. I'm thinking I might try to do that sometime. Mine is in good shape but could use a paint job and some decals (if I can find them). How much of the motor did you take apart? Any photos of that process at all?

I took a little break from working on mine all together because I was in the boundary waters for a few days for a fishing trip. Now back to work. I'm still waiting to fire mine back up until I get the lower unit resealed best I can. I have to wait a little while before I buy the seal kit. In the mean time I'm doing more research on how to get that electric start all hooked up. Before I even try to do the wiring harness I need to figure out how to get the starter on the fly wheel. The flywheel has the little sprocket teeth but the starter is just resting 1/2" below the flywheel. So the teeth don't line up. I'm sure its an easy fix but just got to figure it out. Is there any issues with hooking it up a to power and giving it a try to see if the starting system actually works with out it hooked up to the flywheel? Just a thought.

Did you happen to get any photos of your wiring system yet? Sorry dont mean to bug you, and I'm not in any hurry. Just excited to play with it

Thanks!

 

[JGra]

Re: 68 Merc 200

Hey, I have kinda took a short break from mine also while I am waiting on the lower seal kit to come in. Plus with some OT at work to pay for all this and a brand new grandbaby it havent had alot of time this week. I dont think pictures will help you with this. I have everything tied up nice and neat and I dont think you will be able to tell much. I need to take the cowl off and sit down and draw you something up. As for the starter I dont think you have a problem. The starter drive gear and the flywheel do not stay lined up all the time. Once you apply power to the starter through the starter solenoid it will shoot up and make contact and spin. The when the trigger is taken it will stop spinning and drop back down. Do you have any wires going from your starter to the starter solenoid or has all this been stripped?

As far as the pait job goes I did not take much of. I sanded a bit each day when I had time. About the olny thing I took of was the wrap around cowl. I taped off the decal and the chrome and painted it. I then just spent some time tapeing everything off then gave it a shot with some primer then 2 coats of paint.

I will get you those drawings

 

[Arkman]

Re: 68 Merc 200

My Biggest hurdle was the connectors that I would use to hook to the external wiring to the internal wiring harness. There is a little thing on the side of the motor that has a bunch of pins. I'm sure you have the same thing. I found the perfect thing to use today at the store.

As far the wiring goes inside. As best I can tell everything is in tact. All the wiring looks sound. I figure I will hook it up to a battery and start testing stuff to make sure that I have power and such everywhere. I'm excited to get back to work on it!

Congrats on the new grandbaby! I hope all is well!

Thanks!