Late 60's 95 HP Mercury 950 with Thunderbolt Ignition

r_goewey

Recruit
Joined
Jul 18, 2002
Messages
1
I recently purchased a 1983 boat that had a late 1960's KIEKHAEFER CORP. MERCURY 950 95 HP SIX with a model No. 2212108. The only date stamp that I was able to find on it was a date of 1967 on the distributor body. It is a complete running motor in very good condition with throttle and ignition in same housing, along with mechanical and push button choke as part of the throttle quadrant. I've been told recently that this may have been a limited production model between the times of engines able to start in gear to those that were federally mandated to only start in nuetral. I also was told that it had a nickname of " the tower of power " or " the 95hp tower of power " and is a sought after engine as a " nucklehead would be to a Harley collector. I would appreciate any feedback about this engine and would be interested in owners manuals and or shop manuals for it as well. Thankyou for your assistance. Reed
 

12Footer

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Mar 25, 2001
Messages
8,217
Re: Late 60's 95 HP Mercury 950 with Thunderbolt Ignition

Merc came-out with the popular 4 and six cylinder inline engines, and they all assumed the nickname, Tower of Power",because they were noteably under-rated when it came to thier claimed HP. The 115HP acts like a modern 150HP.<br />The Clymer manual #B726 covers this engine. They were the king (IMHO) when they came-out.<br />As far as the knucklehead of outboards, perhaps. But outboards don't hold the same obcession as do the old Harleys,regardless of how clasic they are. I don't know why not,as I find the old Mercs a marvel of yankee 'enigine-uity', and a thing of beauty on the back of a clean classic Glastron hull.
 

aeronutt29

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 28, 2002
Messages
112
Re: Late 60's 95 HP Mercury 950 with Thunderbolt Ignition

Your motor is indeed a 1967 model. The serial number lookup table is listed on the web at http://www.pfs-ware.com/kwast/merc_serial_number_reference_gui.htm <br /><br />Other than the all too frequently suggested water pump impeller replacement and new oil in the lower unit, there is very little required to keep that motor running good. Make sure you keep fresh gas in the tank, don't forget to mix oil 50:1, and prepare the motor for storage each fall by spraying fogging oil into the carburetors and spark plug holes. Oh, and don't EVER hook the battery cables up backwards or crank the motor without the spark plug cables connected. Either action will immediately cost you $320 for a new switchbox. I learned that the hard way :-(<br /><br />Parts availability is becoming a challenge, but a bit of creative scrounging can turn up most any part. I've found several parts for my '69 Merc 1000 overhaul project on e-bay. My original plan when I had to pull the power head to replace a reed valve was to scrap it after finding several other internal problems caused by the reed valve making it's way into the cylinder, but after some of the more expensive broken parts showed up on e-bay I decided it would be better to keep the old motor running. Hopefully you won't have my problems, but if you do you will know that parts are available if you look hard enough.
 

catmania

Seaman
Joined
May 22, 2003
Messages
59
Re: Late 60's 95 HP Mercury 950 with Thunderbolt Ignition

I have the same motor, the power is incredible :eek: , i get the same top end as a newer 125 with more torque out of the hole. The only problem i have with it is the distributor slippin on its shaft, and it stalling when that happens. Does anyone know if this can be fixed or if i should be buying a new distributor with shaft?<br />Thanks
 

eliotmay

Recruit
Joined
Aug 27, 2010
Messages
1
Re: Late 60's 95 HP Mercury 950 with Thunderbolt Ignition

I have recently bought one too. My serial number is 2211523, i believe that makes it a 68. Looks like they only made them for 67 and 68. Got ours running today, but there is a cracked fuel hose towards the top carb, so will needta change that out. Seemed to start easily tho and run ok. I dont see any water coming out of the top of the lower unit so im guessing the water pump impeller is shot. Will take a look at that soon. Anyone have any insight on how to replace that? Thanks
 
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