Merc 1500

dropbear68

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jan 21, 2013
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199
I picked this old 73 1500 Merc for a song couple of issues to sort with him, im going to screw it on this old Pride Starfire, can anyone give rough estimate of speed, it has a nice Merc stainless prop, looks for all intensive purposes to never been in salt water, missing couple piddly parts but should easy to find, i plan on doing the dizzy up with new points, condensor, rotor, cap and leads, kit the fuel pump/s, do the water pump, thorough clean up, wants some wiring done where a cowboys been at it, carby would want a clean out I expect, plugs would want to go in the bin, might be worthwhile to pop the water jacket and decoke it, new coat of phantom black, decal kit, good for another 5 years, these are a good motor? I hope lol
 

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jimmbo

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May 24, 2004
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You should check your serial number, your engine is sporting a 1976 or 1977 cowl wrap saying power trim which is missing from the engine, also the top cowl is from a 1960s engine, as is the chrome handle/surround on the lower cowl. You might have an engine different from what you were told. A 1500 would not have points in the ignition
BTW, the prop in the pic is not Stainless Steel, but Bronze
Before you start spending money, what do the compression numbers look like?
An estimate of speed? I was going to give an estimate, but seeing inconsistencies on the engine, I won't


The 1500 was made from 1973 till 1977 inclusive. Like all inline 6s it was a solid motor. Getting 150 hp out of 99.8 cubic inches made for a cantankerous engine. while it had a nice smooth idle it, because of its porting and big carbs, wasn't the smoothest running engine between 2000 and 4000 rpms. From 4000 to 6000 it smoothed out and could really haul the mail. WOT range was listed as 5300 - 5800 rpm. The inline was relabeled the 1400 in 1978 because Mercury was placing a V6 150 in the lineup and didn't want two 150s. A great engine on light fast boats.
 
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racerone

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Not sure why you would want to replace the rotor and cap as they are very reliable.------Have you looked at the price of these parts ??
 

dropbear68

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Jan 21, 2013
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No Title

Heres some more pics one i hope is serial number
 

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Faztbullet

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Mar 2, 2008
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Thats a early 1960's 950 with points.........don't spend a dime on it till you check compression, You will need to find a old Merc dealer that has dwell plate to repair distributer,this can turn your "song" into playing TAPS...And if you do get it running it only about 80hp.
 

jimmbo

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It is a 1964 or earlier, as it has the gear shift and throttle connections outside the cowl. It appears to be missing parts of the choke linkage, and the nuts holding on the carbs

I would say it is either an 850(85hp) or a 1000(100hp)

The serial # should be on a plate that is riveted to the bracket between the clamp screwa
 
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racerone

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No point on spending a penny on it now.-----A complete teardown is in order to determine if it is going to be a reliable runner for you.----Are we saying 50 years old and already abandoned at least once !
 

dropbear68

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jan 21, 2013
Messages
199
Bugger, ive already owned a 64 Merc old white girl, wasnt much of a motor, ok ill dump it and shove my 85 Evinrude on it, just out of curiosity does this number mean anything 2177226
 

dropbear68

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jan 21, 2013
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199
I think its a 67ish 90hp, that being said can it be stroked to bigger HP there all much the same bore?
 

dropbear68

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jan 21, 2013
Messages
199
I just bought a blueband 115 and 150 both in pieces but there all there, so ill build one up from scratch, actually amazing how many merc sixes are around when you look, i have another 115 blueband minus block to pick up on weekend, and a 140 blueband thats sat on a boat for 20 years under atree and not run, thatll come my way too, the old 90 ill do up and fit to my Little 13 foot glass boat,
 

jimmbo

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In 1964 the mercs were all black http://www.boatinfo.no/lib/mercury/brochures/1964mercury.html#/0
Blue was used on the cowls from 1972 till 1983.
There are major differences between any 115 and the 150, pistons, block, reed assemblies, carbs and exhaust tuners are all different. There are also differences in the 115 over the years, there were major changes made in 1982. As for the 140, there are two major versions. The 1972 140 is a one of a kind for that year only. From 1978 till 1981... well the 1978 140 was said to be the same as the 1977 150, after that there were some changes made till it was discontinued after 1981. There are some who claim the 115 from 1982 - 1987 was the 1981 140. The 1982 model may have been but later models did have differences. To add some confusion to this, the late(1982+) model 115 was similar to the 150 as it did have the power ported pistons and block, but it wasn't the same engine

As for your unknown engine. It isn't newer than a 1964. In 1965 Mercury changed how the engine cowling was attached to the engine and also moved the connection of the remote control cables inside the cowl. Your engine has the cable connectors on the outside of the cowl on the port side.

Is there a plug/tag on the block that has a serial # on it?

If it is an 800, it will have a bore and stroke of 2 3/4 x 2 1/8 giving a displacement of 76 cu in.
If it is a 1000, it will have a bore and stroke of 2 7/8 x 2.3 giving a displacement of 89.6 cu in
If it is an 850, it could be either depending on the year. 1962, 76 cu in. 1963 - 64, 89.6 cu in

the 1966 1100 had a bore and stroke of 2 15/16 x 2.3 giving a displacement of 93.5 cu in. If you had an 89.6 block I doubt it could be bored 0.63" oversize.
 
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dropbear68

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Jan 21, 2013
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199
In australia our mercs were oyster white in 64 mine had through hub exhuast and the front cover of the motor was as youd find on a red band, only things i did to this motor was dump the two bladed bronze prop for a new 3 blade, and fitted tilt and trim, the boat was owned by a local farmer it had never been in salt water and had only 50 hours from new he even had the original Merc hand book from the dealer, a truly beautiful motor, started always within 3 seconds of cranking with choke on, in the ten years i owned i only added 9 hours to the 50, the hull was a lically made carribean 16 footer, it had back to back seats that folded down intombeds, a rear lounge, 15 gallon factory cruise tank, full set of smiths gauges including tacho, the lower hull was a monza red colour, top was oyster white, it had lots of chrome, even swivel spotlight like a yank police car, it sat on a beautiful well made oyster white trailer which had car leaf springs and shocks. And a henderson hitch coupling, it looked gorgeous, people always stopped and looked at it, i used to tow it with my gorgeous 63Ford Fairlane, wished i still had both
 
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