The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

After getting a couple of quotes on removing the paint from the engine and trying it myself I finally managed to find a stripper that would remove the stuff that merc puts on these things. With about 90 pct of it removed from intake I took it in for bead blasting.

Here's what it looked like before:

And this is after with a coat of clear non-yellowing lacquer:

I am seriously thinking of buying a 60 gal compressor and a blast cabinet. This was 35.00 and I have several pieces I need to do so it might be more cost effective in the long run. My old compressor is just that.. old and needs to be replaced anyway.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Friday Night --- I got tired of cleaning and scrubbing and just wanted to put something together. I assembled the intake.

Here, the studs are reinstalled using loctite 271. I use loctite 271 a lot because I don't have to wrench as hard and reduce the chance of stripping a thread. These won't go anywhere -- I also replaced studs and reed block bolts with new stainless steel hardware. I'll be doing that a lot along the way. It's one of my pet peeves.

I had a new gasket on the shelf so I went ahead and installed the reed blocks. I worked these blocks over last November and they're perfect so I won't be showing you the process on these reed. The 200 I just got will have reed blocks in it that I'll use to show you how it's done.

These are CCMS (Chris Carson Marine Service) high performance reeds but are designed specifically for this type of engine and use. There are others that are probably just as good such in this application. A few that I know of are TDR (Tony Dukas Racing) and Boysen. They are all better than stock reeds. I just happened to pick CCMS for my first engine and I'm totally satisified with them.

One of the big advantages to running these reeds is that if one comes apart on you it's not going to tear your engine apart like stock steel reeds can. They can break and chip just like the steel reeds but generally they don't in a stock motor.

Up close and personal... This is what you want for a smooth idle and good performance. Notice the tight seal and how they lay flat and tight. No one would settle for .020 lift being o.k. if they knew how an engine runs when the reeds are like this.

In a full blown drag motor you'd want to cut the tops off the reed stops or remove them and replace them with a standard attaching plate. If I were to think about cutting them for my motor I'd call Chris first and get his advice.

A new day...

Saturday, was one heck of a crazy day, my yard sump pump went out and I had six inches of water from the downpour that was pretty much steady all night. Then I went to get my welder because the new style pumps don't fix the box in my French Drain and I find out my buddy is closing his shop and I have to move all my stuff. I finally got the 99 2.5l 200 home about 11:00am but didn't get it on the stand until after 4:00. Everything worked out but I'm one tired puppy.

If you look really close at the Lower Unit you can see the barcode sticker on it. Yep, brand new!!!!!! This motor came from the Merc Dealer in my town. They've maintained it and have done a good job. This engine was taken in on trade. The mechanic at the shop said it lost a cylinder. They had just put a brand new merc lower unit on it. I pulled the heads and it didn't loose a cylinder for the normal reasons but the engine is hung up and doesn't rotate more than a 1/4 turn. I suspect that it broke a ring, lost a ring pin or oil pump gear. I'll know more tomorrow.

This engine has everything on it that I need to complete the Franken Merc but things like bearings, pistons, etc are being ordered new. Since I'm running the 2.5L intake and 4 petal reed blocks, even the carbs will work after I rejet them for a 150.

 

[Dukedog]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

I thought you were sick! Now theres no dought! You are really gonna "rob" parts from a good, complete, rebuildable 200 ta build a 2.0 150. Shame on you.........................

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

I thought you were sick! Now theres no dought! You are really gonna "rob" parts from a good, complete, rebuildable 200 ta build a 2.0 150. Shame on you.........................

Ya got me figured.. I am crazy.. Have you stopped and thought how nuts the FrankenMerc project is .... Have no fear, I do occaionally sport a bit of sanity.. The 200's a steel sleve so it's not a great candidate for a "go fast" but with a bass mid and a sporty L/U it will be decent for the bass boat restoration that I'm planning on starting later this year. Most of what I'm robbing I won't use again anyway.. I'm thinking the front half will be sporting a Brucato setup and all the electrics wil be CDI R2 stuff.

Your probabaly wondering why I don't just dump the Frankenmerc and build the 200. The reason is that my weekend warrior boat is only rated at 115 and a 200 is way to much for it. 150 is pushing the edge pretty hard.

 

[Dukedog]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Don't be to quick ta discount that steel motor on a "lake" boat. It can be made ta make some serious horsepower plus maintained and "repaired" a lot cheaper than tha Nic motor!

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Don't be to quick ta discount that steel motor on a "lake" boat. It can be made ta make some serious horsepower plus maintained and "repaired" a lot cheaper than tha Nic motor!

I agree. I'm still pretty green in the outboard performance world although I've worked on all sorts of performance engines. I've always found that the materials and what you can do with them is what makes the engine.

Iron is Iron, everything else is and experiment. Yamaha has a new coating they're using to try and compete with the E-Tec. Seems they've lost a lot of business lately.. Evinrude better watch out. Enginuity beats arrogance everytime. I can't wait to see if they have the R&D money to respond.

Anyway, the 200 will be FrankenMerc II 2010 project. I hope to cover a different spectrum and boating class with it because the 200 is the break point between mild fishing boat and get with the program bass and performance boating.

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Don't be to quick ta discount that steel motor on a "lake" boat. It can be made ta make some serious horsepower plus maintained and "repaired" a lot cheaper than tha Nic motor!

Aint that the truth!!!! Best motor we had was a resleeved(all 6) ole chrome bore that was wore out, would turn 8 grand and 28 pitch prop on 2.1 lowerit did have a few tweeks to it but exhaust was stock.. Found out a long time ago, Merc V's have plenty of exhaust flow just lacks in the breathing dept... spent a TON of money at Land & Sea to learn this.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

A few posts back I mentioned how steel reeds can chip and break and tear up your engine. These pics should drive the fact home.. I tore the 200 down today and this is what I found.. By the way, I had it tore down, bagged, labled and stowed in just under 3 hours. It's a lot faster when you've got the manual memorized...

#2 Reed Block -

#2 Cylinder sleeve galled and rotated 1/4 inch -

Other than that the engine would have been in good running condition. All the parts I need to complete the FrankenMerc are there and for 1000.00 it was a heck of a deal. The repairs to the block are simple. It's just too bad the someone had to have a really bad day for me to have a good one.

This engine will become FrankenMerc II later this year.

Dukedog and Faztbullet... we're gonna have some FUN with this one. Can you say "Go Fast".. I'll have to add boat #3 too... Humm, Stratos, Gambler, Allison.... so many to choose from.

Fatzbullet, take a look at the bottom of the sleeve. This is one that will get the .030 releif cuts. You were right, the 9765 2.0 blocks with cast in cylinders don't need them but the 9763 with liners should get them. I don't think it's absolutely nececessary if your not using forged pistons. I'll do it just because... well,,, that's me.

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

That looks more like a standard misalignment from the factory than sleeve turned, you got to get one hot to turn a sleeve and a little piece if reed aint going to move it that far(1/4), bet if you look at the finger ports on the other cylinders they will looked "turned" also. This is prime example of why we remove the sleeves and work on porting "behind the liner" and reinstall new sleeves. Forget a Stratos unless its a VT Rocket and Gambler, look for a Allison,Bullet,Hydra Stream or Laser!! Get ready to learn to drive!!!

 

[Dukedog]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

That looks more like a standard misalignment from the factory than sleeve turned, you got to get one hot to turn a sleeve and a little piece if reed aint going to move it that far(1/4), bet if you look at the finger ports on the other cylinders they will looked "turned" also. This is prime example of why we remove the sleeves and work on porting "behind the liner" and reinstall new sleeves. Forget a Stratos unless its a VT Rocket and Gambler, look for a Allison,Bullet,Hydra Stream or Laser!! Get ready to learn to drive!!!

So true. Production has always had trouble gettin 'em straight......
Allison,Bullet,Hydra Stream or Laser!! Only way ta go. Tha others are "turds" when it comes ta performance. Ya know tha sayin' "you can make a brick fly with enough horsepower" from tha F4 phantom days.

Steel sleeve! Tha hardest hittin' motor we ever built was an '84 updraft BP with steel holes and little "grindin'". Change it ta a downdraft, O-ringed tha heads with 280+ compression and tons a fuel pressure. I still believe ta this day it ran better than any of tha Nic motors we are runnin' nowdays.........

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Good info, thanks. I did check the rest of the sleeves and they seem to be dead on.

Funny, I was just on LA Sleeve's site and thought maybe I'd replace all of them. I dunno, it's just a thought right now. I have to the get the first FrankenMerc done before I start on the second one not to mention that I have to get the cash flow right to get a new hull too. I was looking around at lunch today just to get an idea of what's out there. Sure are a bunch of Rangers out there. From what info I've gathered I guess I shouldn't even consider one.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

This evening I put the crank from the 200 into the block and checked it for runout. I also used it to check the clearance on the fill that I added to #2 where the oil gear used to be.

Run out should be checked using a set of machinst V blocks but I don't have any so I improvised. By clamping the crank down and using the flywheel weight I was able to hold it on evenly and get a good reading. The runout was .002 and is within the factory spec's of .006.

I now have two good crankshafts to choose from for the project. I use the flywheels as a base and store the cranks on end. Years ago I was taught to store crankshafts standing on end or hung suspended from the end. I was told the reason was because a crank shaft could sag over time if it was stored horizontal. I don't know if this holds true for these cranks or not. I'm not willing to find out considering the cost to replace them.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Just finished funding the Stimulus Package. Now that the taxes are paid I can get back to this engine.

I thought a lot about where the project needed to go next and I decided that the logical place would be the transom bracket. So though it may seem that I'm jumping all over the place the reality is that this is where it all starts. Think of it like building a house. You need to start with a good foundation...

So here's where we start building a complete engine -

The parts are (left to right) 1. Left side transom bracket. 2. Swivel bracket. 3. Right side transom bracket. 4. Swivel pin. 5. Tilt and trim assembly.

There's supposed to be a lot more material on that splined end of the swivel pin. The groove for the retaining ring is completely gone as well as most of the spline material. It's shot and will need to be replaced.

The 1999 200 engine that this came from was a Blue Water version but it wasn't until later that they started making the pins out of stainless and discontinued the carbon steel verisons like this one. New, it runs about 600.00 but I found a used one in great condition for 100.00 + Shipping.

Notice that the majority of the rust is red.. Most of that is just accumulation from the steel that was rusting on the swivel pin. With the exception of the swivel pin the red stuff wipes right off.

The Tilt and Trim seems to work fine but it will still be rebuilt simply because I don't want to find out later that a seal was ready to blow. The tilt and trim will be the next item that I'll work on after I clean, thoroughly inspect and paint the other parts.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Reed Blocks - Here is the proper way to lap a set of reed blocks. In this example, I'm prepping a set of 4 petal rubber reed blocks from a 200 EFI engine. The process is the same for 5 or 7 petal aluminum reed blocks.

Start with 400g wet/dry sand paper on a sheet of glass using Mineral Spirits as a lubricant.

Using only slightly more pressure than the weight of the block, lap the surface in a circular motion for approx 2-3 minutes.

Clean and inspect your progress.

This is a three step process, using 400g to start with is just that, a starting point. Don't get carried away.

Change the paper to 600g then finally finish the rough lapping with 800g.

Here's what the three stages look like at completion. 400g is on the left and 800g is on the right.

Here's all six finished with the intial lapping.

Here's a quick test you can do at each grit to determine where you are. I call it my rubber stamp test, you can call it whatever you like.

There's still several steps left in preparing reed blocks for optimal performance.

As a side note, some very recent testing showed that properly prepared reed blocks have a much higher probabilty for HP gain than the the material used for the actual reeds.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

The rain was comming down hard so Yard work had to be postponed... darn..

The second phase of reed block prep is polishing. I use a heavy duty rubbing compound followed by 1000 grit polishing compound. Neither of these products have wax or silicon in them and work good for this application -

I start with the rubbing compound which is around 600 grit but has lubricants that make it more like around 900g. The trick here again is not to use pressure, just a lot of circular lapping. I found that about 3 minutes per side was adequate.

In between compounds I cleaned the blocks in warm soapy water using a soft nylon bristle brush. The final polishing is two step, first I lap it for 3 minutes -

Then I buff it off. I use my 7" Makita buffer at 300 rpm with a polishing pad. Here I have it locked on and held in the vise.

And here's the block after the second phase -

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Reed block - Final Phase.. During this phase I square up the bottoms of the blocks.

Next, using a fine file and a chainsaw file I go in side the block and clean up any mold slag that was left behind when the were pulled out of the molds. There are several sharp edges in the fuel path that I like to smooth out and I like to ramp the dividers at around 30 deg so the fuel doesn't hit that brick wall in between the ports. When your doing this it's important to remember the direction of fuel flow. There are a lot of areas that look like they need work but aren't in the fuel path.

Here's a block before the file work -

And here's a block after it was worked with the files -

It's kind of hard to see the details but this work could mean a couple of extra horsepower. Hard to say for sure but it certainly won't hurt.

So that's it, the reed blocks are prep'd and ready to be built out. Before I buy a set of reeds I want to try my other set that is on an identical set of blocks and already on the intake. I may decide I want a little sportier set of reeds. If not then these blocks will be used in the 200.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

After the reed blocks I took the mid section apart and sprayed it down with oven cleaner.

While that was working, I matched the exhaust plate to the block. Not much to do here really, the 200 plate fit nearly perfectly.

I powerwashed the mid and it came out clean as a whistle so I decided to try and tackle the broken bolts at the lower mount. The heads snapped off when I was removing it. I soaked them in WD-40 and cleaned them with a wire brush but that didn't work. I then hit them with some Klotz penetrant and let is sit but that didn't work either. I pulled out the torch and heated them up but that didn't work either. Tomorrow I'll weld nuts on them and try again. Maybe after soaking over night they'll decide to give up. If not... I'll have to drill them out, weld them up and then redrill and tap.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Folks this is the FrankenMerc Project and as such I reserve the right to morph.

I'm seriously thinking about switching up a bit and building out the 2.5L 200 instead of the 2.0. I have 6 bad holes on the 2.0 but all the block massaging is done and that's a lot of work. Just needs boring/honing and a set of pistons. That'll run around 1000 - 1200 bucks.

The 2.5 has one bad hole and needs only minor block work to be a strong fast motor.

I've got enough parts to go either way. The only draw back is that I'll probably need to find another hull for the bigger engine. But maybe not, the 2.0 is well on it's way to 175hp or better.

I'm going to stew on it for a couple of more days and then I'll post my decision and we'll go on from there. Just as a side note, these are the things that you have to make decisions about when you're building engines as a hobby. If you're a pro doing this for a living, it's a no brainer.

 

[sschefer]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

Mid Section rebuild... Good news, instead of tearing into the hydraulics I took it to a hydraulic shop and had it tested. I picked it up this morning and it passed with flying colors. I also dropped off the mid can to have the lower mount cover bolts drilled out. The holes go all the way through so I'm going to have them opened up to 3/8 and through bolt them on instead. I also ordered a set of solid mounts from Bruce over at Scream & Fly. He's got full sets (upper and lower) for 60.00 + 10.00 shipping. If you need a set, heres' his email address Mercmanwon@aol.com. Just send him an email and he'll have them in the mail the next business day. I used PayPal.. Super fast service and all the guy's over there swear by his product. Heres what the look like -

I just fired up the 2.0 on my boat and checked it out. I put a 40 amp system on it last weekend. After reseting the timing pointer and checking the timing, I hit the key and it slowly came to life. After I re-adjusted the initial timing it started right up. I'm going fishing in the morning and then maybe I'll put the swivel bracket back together in the afternoon.

 

[Dukedog]

Re: The 2010 FrankenMerc Project

"The holes go all the way through so I'm going to have them opened up to 3/8 and through bolt them on instead."

Ya might wanna check clearences on tha inside before you do this (driveshaft, waterpump)......................

With tha pressures that those parts are subject to, it really needs ta be a threaded hole with loctite bolts (right length)...........Nuts n bolts tend ta loosen up easier and waller around in tha blank hole................JMO