HELP! Motor Installation Questions

mlife

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Joined
Mar 18, 2011
Messages
4
Sooo, it turns out that I own a mid 70's 15-16 ft fiberglass trihull AND a 2008 Mercury 4 stroke 60 EFI Bigfoot motor. The only problem is that they are not together atm :(. Every marine shop I call gives me a rough estimate of around 1500 dollars to install this motor. I think I should be able to get my truck motor replaced (labor wise) from a stealership for that :mad:. So here it is :

The boat itself has no motor on it, or engine controls for that matter. It does have steering though. The old motor on it was apparently a mid 70's Mercury as well, but a 70 horse 2 stroke. Can I simply purchase any set of remote engine controls (there are some nice ones on this site for around $300), and install it as long as I have the proper cable going to the motor? Do I need to get some kind of adapter to run my tach and so on? What else should I consider before taking on such a project? Am I being too cheap here or should I just fork out the cash to git er done? Any help is appreciated!
 

Bondo

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Apr 17, 2002
Messages
70,468
Re: HELP! Motor Installation Questions

Am I being too cheap here or should I just fork out the cash to git er done?

Naw,... We're All abuncha Cheap-skates, that's why this is a DIY'er forum....

Yes, mostly speakin', a controller is a controller, but there are exceptions...
The cables gotta match the motor...
For the Tach,... Ya need a New 1 to match the motor's igntion...

Don't forget to Bolt the motor to the transom,... ;)
 

mlife

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Joined
Mar 18, 2011
Messages
4
Re: HELP! Motor Installation Questions

Wow, prompt response! So the controls and cables on this site that show for a 2003+ Mercury motor should work fine for this motor. That's the first $500 hurdle passed!

Also, I'm not sure what pitch prop I should get. It is a 14 inch prop and the guy ran an 11 degree when it was on his pontoon boat, so I was thinking 15 or something for mine. I would like to mostly use it for fishing, but it would be nice if I could pull a wake boarder out of the water too! The boat (I had it given to me and haven't actually seen it yet!) is a GD Simpson model TK152 from the early to mid 70's, and I can't find any information for it online. Max capacity is something like 750 kg (1650 lbs) or something like that, if that helps. Remember, the motor is a Bigfoot model, so I believe it is geared down to have a larger prop and more torque.
 

Yacht Dr.

Vice Admiral
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
5,581
Re: HELP! Motor Installation Questions

The boat (I had it given to me and haven't actually seen it yet!)

Is the trans gone ? .. stringers ? ..

I say paint it ;) .

YD.

PS. you might get a better response from the of the drive pros in another forum..
 

mlife

Recruit
Joined
Mar 18, 2011
Messages
4
Re: HELP! Motor Installation Questions

It was purchased by a family member for the motor, and was in use and very well taken care of apparently until last summer. It's kinda tough to figure all the logistics of this without actually having the boat here yet, but soft water season is almost upon us and unfortunately the yacht in question is still 4 hours away from me. I must get my ducks in a row now! I'll maybe move this over to the Mercury forum...
 

Jeep Man

Commander
Joined
Oct 17, 2008
Messages
2,803
Re: HELP! Motor Installation Questions

There are adaptor harnesses available at your Merc dealer. How many pins are at the motor end of the harness on your boat? Your new motor has 14 I believe.
On my boat which is an '08, I needed to adapt for a '04 motor which was a 7 pin. Harness was available at the dealer. It was a direct plug in.
 
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