1959 Mark 58ae ignition troubles

[mistermason]

New guy here, working on restoring a 1959 Grumman Aircraft Deluxe Runabout with a matching original 1959 Mark 58AE. Bought the package from an elderly gentleman who used it for fishing a recently as 2 seasons ago (supposedly). I have so far stripped and repainted the exterior of the boat, stripped and painted the trailer with new wiring and lights, and cleaned and painted the engine. Just this week I finally got all the parts back together and moved on to testing the engine.
It will not start, no spark. Compression is good, starter and voltages are good (new battery). I have cleaned all the grounds I can find, repaired or replaced several external wires that were broken or had bad insulation. Checked for fuel flow thru carbs, all seems well.
I am now getting above my pay grade and don't know where to go from here. I assume cleaning and setting the points would be a good idea, however I have no idea how to get to them! The distributor is upside down and there is no apparent way to remove the cap. I need some advice from someone who knows these old motors before I dig in too deep and screw something up!
I did, just today, purchase a pdf version service manual and scanned thru it. It appears that you must remove the entire distributor to access the points and condenser, then retime the whole deal to reinstall? Really! That's the best design they could come up with?
Thanks in advance for any info, just from browsing around here I can tell there are some of you guys who really know your stuff and appreciate these old Merc's.

 

[mistermason]

Just some more details, I would like to find new decals for the boat and engine. Also, the shifting cable is frozen so I will need to find a replacement. Assuming of course that I can get it running first. I did also flush and refill the lower unit on the motor, but I am worried about the water pump and don't know how to check or replace it.

 

[bgc]

There are 4 bolts the face the top of the motor, on top of the magneto. Remove the entire magneto to work on it.
It only fits in one way, on splines, so you wont have to "Retime" it
Use caution when cleaning the points, dont sand the like you would in a car. points for a D-4 mag are @150.00 when you can find them.
Replace the condenser
Dont try starting without replacing the impeller. Its in the lower unit on top of the gear housing.
Shift cables are here at IBOATS
johnsmcintoshvintagemercuryoutboard.com has most of the tools and decals for them, Also really nice folks.

 

[mistermason]

Thanks for that. I will work on it tomorrow. Any ideas on the decals? And any other common issues that may stop the spark, in case it's not the points?

 

[bgc]

johnsmcintoshvintagemercuryoutboard.com has most of the tools and decals for them

The magnetos are basic. Coil, magnets(rotor), points, and condenser.
Check the wire on the port side on the mag for ground to the cowling. If you have continuity, you mercury tilt switch or kill switch is faulty.

 

[Chinewalker]

You can also bench test the magneto once you get it off the motor.

Remove the small cap first. Remove the rotor. Remove the main cap. Clean & gap the points. Change out condenser.

With the cap off, you can spin the rotor over clockwise, holding the coil tang near a bench vice (approx. 1/2 inch gap) while holding the main mag body against the vice. Spark should jump that gap.

Clean the contacts on the cap.

Test again with mag reassembled, with spark plugs in vice and mag body against vice.