Playing around with old outboards.

[Downwindtracker2]

I picked up a another one the other night off Craig's list , $50 for a '73 9.8hp Mercury . To me, at my age, these are cutting edge. I look upon them with the eyes of a young apprentice too poor to buy them when they were new. In those days, truck payments and girl friends kept me poor. Current truck is paid for and the wife and I just celebrated our 37th anniversary, On a fixed income though.

The $50 Merc was given to the young man by his father-in-law. They all seem young don't they? It wasn't peeing so he tore into the lower end, and made quite a mess of it. I guess motorcycles are simpler. I can salvage the impeller key, chuckle. I had been given a 7.5 of similar vintage earlier. I'll see if I can match them up. These blue strip Merc drive shafts get rusty.

When you are on the lake and it runs just the way it's suppose to as it came from the factory, it's a good feeling. Maybe my tinny will plane with the 9.8, when using a previous 7.5 Merc, a newer blue band, also made up from two, it would only plane if I bent down to cut wind resistance.

 

[RCO]

That 9.8 should have no trouble planing out a small boat, depending on the hull design and weight . I have a 69 9.8 and it will do about 22 mph with me, my 12 year old son and fishing gear on my 12' StarCraft . It easily has more power than any of my omc 9.5-10 hp motors of similar age.

 

[Bonaventure]

I cleaned the driveshaft of my Johnson 2hp with a Scotchbrite pad dipped in a product called CLR. It removed the rust with little effort. I then taped the shaft off where it needs to go in the powerhead and the water pump and shot it with a spray can of Cold Galvanized Coating. I used grease on the parts that were masked in hopes that it would stay any further rust.

 

[Downwindtracker2]

For what it's worth, at work when we had leak on a large shaft,80mm, we for temporary fix ,would use some stuff like JB Weld on the shaft. But it was only under a mechanical seal .When we could , we would send it out to the machine shop. I've used commercial sleeves on truck engine crankshafts. 360 Dodges were leaky.

 

[Scott Danforth]

just buy a new complete water pump. the 3.9/4.5/6/7.5/9.8 had one of two shaft diameters (depending on who made parts), so you need to measure the shaft before you order an impeller or water pump kit.

 

[QBhoy]

I love to hear things like this...I literally can’t stop buying older (not quite as old as yours) 2 strokes.
Currently have;
an early 90’s Suzuki 2.2. What an engine. So light and never let me down.
An early 90’s Yamaha Malta 3hp. Great wee thing and really sought after. So well built.
Also have 2 Yamaha 8hp short shaft 2 strokes. One is a ‘96, the other a really rare last of the 2 strokes 2001/2002 model. What an engine these things are. The exact same weight almost as a new 4 stroke 4hp and some power from them.
Just sold a mariner 10hp. That was a great thing too. Made the wee 3m rib do 23mph when light.

 

[Downwindtracker2]

The thing about little 2 strokes is, we can carry them ! The '74 9.8 that I picked up had a seized swivel I and haven't able to free it. Nor I have been able to split the 7.5. That project is taking on major proportions, so I looked on Craig's list and found what to me is almost new, '83 Yami/Mariner 15 hp. It starts on 1/2 a pull, I'm impressed. It weighs only a little more than the 7.5/9.8 Mercs. It's kinda tatty, so it's got a date with a rattle can this winter.

Rarely an outboard wears out, and yet they get disposed of.

 

[JimS123]

I love to hear things like this...I literally can’t stop buying older (not quite as old as yours) 2 strokes.

I love it too. Except that I only buy them much older than that. A '73 isn't even broken in yet.....LOL.

This morning's estate sale had a 1939 Evinrude Sportwin for $100. He wouldn't take $20 so I passed. But the sale is still on tomorrow...

 

[Downwindtracker2]

That 9.8 was listed as parts for $200. I sent a reply offering $50, with an apology . Two weeks later I got response, " Do you still want it? "

He had included a couple of impellers, the two sizes .43something ' and .45something ' I measured the shaft in the center and it was .43 but the impeller wouldn't slide down to it's seating area. That was .45. Lower unit oil and impeller are done.

Good luck on the 1939, sounds interesting. We are keepers of a time and space when we really made world leading things.

 

[82rude]

Well now you guys have got me interested in getting my 1939 22.5hp speeditwin out of the shed.It will need a fuel system cleaning for sure .With fresh gas I have zero doubt she will fire up in a couple of pulls.What it needs is a classic old wood boat to move along the water.

 

[Downwindtracker2]

Wouldn't it look great pushing one of those bright finished cold-molded plywood runabouts from the early '50s.

Heck even my Sears Gamefisher tinny, made by Harbercraft is an '81. So it's period correct . LOL

 

[JimS123]

The supply of old woodies is quickly drying up. The ones I see lately are not even salvageable. Grandpa dies and the kids are getting rid of something that sat in the backyard uncovered for 30 years.

The upside is that prices are coming down and I don't understand why. Our pride and joy (with several 1st place trophies) was appraised at $10,000 in 2008. I saw one almost like it go for $4,600 last Summer.

 

[82rude]

My friend has 2 woodies for sale.One,s a 16 foot Courtney craft (lapstrake) and the other is a 19 foot 49 launch with a Buchanan midget (?) inboard.Both are totally redone.I told him to take the launch down to the Hessel boat show in August and sell it down there.

 

[JimS123]

Our local boat show is, I believe, the 3rd largest ACBS sanctioned show in the country. Of course, Clayton, NY is the largest.

We always have a "Field of Dreams" section, with anything and everything for sale. In recent years I see few boats getting sold.

Have your buddy try a classified ad in Rudder magazine. People that read that publication are ones that are in the market.

 

[82rude]

Ok will do ,they belong in good homes and I know he wont sell to the tight wads in my town for a loss.I had a heck of a time selling my 17 foot Geisler cedarstrip and it was professionally redone by the maker.Even had one guy tell me the transom needed replacing .It took everything I had to not physically throw that moron out of the yard!The friend that's selling went to school in Novia Scotia to learn how to build woodies also.

 

[Chinewalker]

They can be addictive.
I got my 1928 Elto Quad out a few summers ago. The old Knucklbuster still starts with a quarter turn of the flywheel!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFSYLT5jkzo