Re: New to site
an old merc on an old boat looks good--but you are in the restoration hobby stage--think about a vintage sports car. Stuff will go wrong, nad require tinkering--time money and skills. if you want something dependable "starts first time every time" then you need to plunk down the green for a newer motor.
Mercs can be very tempermental and it's hard to find skilled mechanics who know the old ones. They were in some areas internally inconsistent from year to year as Kiekhoffer tweaked them. They were fast and popular with the speed guys, not the work horse guys. "If you want to get there, get a merc; if you want to get home, get a johnson."
Lots of boats from the late sixties on were called "tri-hulls" and cathedral hulls. Actually, very few true tri-hulls were made; they weren't too successful because the angles, etc. were severe. All three "hulls" where they hit the water were about the same size. The cathedral is a softened tri-hull, with the center "hull" deeper. So the classic Whaler is pretty close to cathedral and some people nowadays refer to them as tri-hull, and they are comparable until you get real technical.
