mark_gober
Petty Officer 3rd Class
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2009
- Messages
- 76
Hey everyone...I'm new to the forum and I'm looking for info from some experts. (but I'll settle for a good shot in the dark and a touch of experience) My brother and I recently obtained our grandfathers old 1958 14' Fleet aluminum fishing boat and 2 1954 Mercury MK-20 motors.
I'm in charge of the motors and I've run into a few problems. When disassembling the motor for a preliminary look, I snapped 7 of the 8 bolts holding the water jacket cover on (at the spark plug end.) I've tried using a bolt extractor, but the bolts were very soft and simply expanded when the extractor bit down. I'm down to drilling the bolt out and retapping the holes. Has anyone every done this and do you have any advice?
Second, The gasket between the motor and the water jacket cover was in sad shape after I separated the two. Should I track down a factory replacement or would a homemade gasket out of gasket material be sufficient.
I'm very handy with all things mechanical and other types of internal combustion engines, but this is my first outboard motor so any help would be appreciated.
Mark
I'm in charge of the motors and I've run into a few problems. When disassembling the motor for a preliminary look, I snapped 7 of the 8 bolts holding the water jacket cover on (at the spark plug end.) I've tried using a bolt extractor, but the bolts were very soft and simply expanded when the extractor bit down. I'm down to drilling the bolt out and retapping the holes. Has anyone every done this and do you have any advice?
Second, The gasket between the motor and the water jacket cover was in sad shape after I separated the two. Should I track down a factory replacement or would a homemade gasket out of gasket material be sufficient.
I'm very handy with all things mechanical and other types of internal combustion engines, but this is my first outboard motor so any help would be appreciated.
Mark