1964 mercury 500 question (s)

[doobielit]

Hey my name is scott and i recently bought a boat w/motor and had some questions.First one is what is the model of this motor ?Is it a plain 500?Or is there a letter like e?No. two what kind of ignition do i have?and was wondering how do i take off the top of the motor where the pull start is??Are these good motors or not.the motor runs but not to good.Needs a tune up.Also how do i change the fluids before i get it running good.I have inclosed some pics.Thanks for any help. new to boats.forgot here is the serial no.1600848.

 

[turtles11756]

Re: 1964 mercury 500 question (s)

the motor looks to be in very good original condition from the outside for a 1961' or 62' . the serial # tells the year made oldmercs.com. first off is a compression test to see if it's just a tune up it needs.it has two sets if ignition points inside the distributor caps and you need to learn alot before fooling with that.get a compression gauge with a flexible hose in order to reach the bottom spark plug hole and do a search here for method of checking cylinder compression.

 

[doobielit]

Re: 1964 mercury 500 question (s)

You dont think it's a 64? And will an auto compression tester work??I did purches a clymer book (B719) and it's for the years 64 to 71 is this the wrong book??