Re: 1957 Mercury 55E Pistons needed: 726-1612A
Well, I got the motor with a boat for $300. I decided to see if I could get it started, since it turned over by hand and the prop spun freely. I got it home and hooked it up to some wiring (the motor's wiring was SHOT, totally corroded) and thence to a battery. It turned over, and over...I got new spark plugs, squirted some oil into the cylinders, sprayed some carb cleaner in the carbs....and it started up!! Bees shot out everywhere from the exhaust...I removed the lower and got the bee's nest out. Then I took the distributor apart...the dist. cap posts were pitted (BADLY) and corroded. The connections to the plug wires were bad too. there was grease and earwigs in the distributor, the points were so pitted they looked like the lunar surface. The fuel filter diaphragm was shot, so I replaced it - found a seal kit and replaced all the seals-some were missing form the old motor! But it ran.
I took the power head off and started to de carbonize the exhaust side...that's when I noticed the piston skirts were somewhat scored and I just figured that as long as I am this far along, I'd try to get some new ones!! Maybe I could just hone the cylinders and use stock size pistons, But If it is at all possible, I 'd like to bore and put new ones. What advice do you have for a first time motor restoration? New pistons or hone and replace with stock size pistons?
-David