I Got Me a Mercury !!!

[Scott Danforth]

Ted, for $500 you can buy a running early 80's 9.8

 

[tpenfield]

Ted, for $500 you can buy a running early 80's 9.8

I know . . . exactly. I may try a capacitor, if I can find one with a high enough voltage rating; else it is back to the magneto ignition that I had on the 1969 model.

I can see why Mercury had this ignition for only 2 years. . .

 

[nola mike]

Ted, for $500 you can buy a running early 80's 9.8

Would you stop it with that talk?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Ted, here is a thread on converting the phase maker to the older phelon https://www.tinboats.net/threads/mercury-9-8-thunderbolt-ignition-to-phelon-mag-conversion.37992/

you could try that.

the later ignitions have a different crank

Would you stop it with that talk?

LMAO

 

[aspeck]

Ted, for $500 you can buy a running early 80's 9.8

But where's the fun in that?

 

[tpenfield]

@Scott Danforth Thank you for the link . . . I'm getting to the point of 'had enough fun' with this motor. Something is very intermittent, more 'off' than 'on'.

I was able to get a decent spark on the plugs this morning, so I put the motor in the test tank and tried to start it . . . Not much luck . . . I got a few momentary burst (< 1 second) but the engine would not stay running.

I would like to get this thing running in case the Evinrude has issues at some point.

 

[tpenfield]

The Admiral wants to go to the beach (avec moi) for a few cocktails this afternoon.

So, I spent a little bit of time digging into the phase-maker to Magneto ignition swap. At the speed of an Indy Pit Crew, I took off the Phasemaker stuff and put on the Magneto Ignition (from my 1969 motor)

Here is a bunch of the stuff: 1969 powerhead, 1969 flywheel, 1969 magneto stator . . . 1972 Blue Label engine cover.

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I'm thinking this will be a blue label motor with a red label ignition, making it a purple label motor
PhaseMaker out . . .

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Magneto stator on . . .

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Supposedly, you need to also swap out the top bearing carrier plate from the older motor. But . . . the part number is the same on the 1969 as the 1972. I checked Mercury's website part list and sure enough, they are the same (1132-2400A1)
1969 . . .

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1972 . .

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Anyway, I may have this motor back together by nightfall . . . we shall see.

I may also start a new thread just on the swap, as there does not seem to be a complete thread on such.

I bought the 1972 motor for $175 and it had been listed on FB Mtk Place for quite a few months. I think I now know why . . .

 

[jimmbo]

The 69 Graphics on the Cowl look much better than the 72...

 

[tpenfield]

OK - after beach beers and some dinner, I finished off the conversion of the phase maker to magneto ignition. Here are a few photos . . .

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The previous version mounting holes for the spark plug wires are still there, but unused. I was able to screw into the holes to secure the wires.
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Same for the other side. Fortunately I saved everything from my 1969 motor.
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The shut-off switch on the 1969 and earlier Merc's is on the front panel, and the 1972+ models have it on the starboard side. Fortunately, the wiring was just long enough to reach the new location. The magneto ignition uses a switch ground to shut off the engine, the phase maker uses an open circuit to shut the engine off. My DIY switch is a simple toggle switch, so not really safety compliant, but I can put a tether on the toggle to shut it off in a MOB situation.
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Ground connection
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I got the flywheel and pull-start assembly installed. I forgot to swap to the old style plugs, so the engine wanted to run, but was struggling. I replaced the 'CDI' style plugs with traditional plugs and the motor starter right up!
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View attachment IMG_8306.MOV
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I'll be running it a bit to make sure it is solid.

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[tpenfield]

A couple of updates to the Mercury saga . . .

The engine would not cold start. If I did a spray of fuel into the carburetor it would fire right up. So, I took the carburetor apart and did some cleaning. It did not look bad at all and had evidence of previous maintenance.

After some fiddling, I realized that the choke plate was not covering the carb throat tightly enough (thus no actual choking). So, I made some adjustments and the engine can now start with choke.

I also changed out my toggle switch to a waterproof push button switch for the shut-off.

I need to do a few repairs/tweaks on the Evinrude 6HP, so this might be the opening for the Mercury to take over the dinghy motor duty.