Rebuild old Mercury in-line 6

briannh1234

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 19, 2003
Messages
233
Re: Rebuild old Mercury in-line 6

Hi again. Yea I know - summers over and I still have not got my motor back together. I have had a very buzy summer and if all of them are going to be like this I will sell my boat...<br /><br />I called one of the local machine shop's that turned me away before - They must have heard the desparation in my voice and felt sorry for me. My block is back now and the top two cylinder's have been bored. I have new pistons for the bottom four cylinders and 2 new oversized pistons for the top two.<br /><br />Since there was no definitive cause for piston failure, I have decided to follow the manual and inspect all the parts before re-assembly. (probably a good idea anyway)<br /><br />I have been checking the reed blocks. I borrowed a feeler guage and almost all the reeds from the top 2 cylinders are out of spec. The manual say's the gap should be no more than .007, and I can fit a .008 feeler in most of them. Some of them seemed stuck shut until I forced them open.<br /><br />Why does the gap matter? Once the engine is running the reed's are just gunna slap back and forth. Are stuck reeds a problem? Or will the engine force those open when running? Will new reed stick anyway, since they will be mounted to the old reed cage? New reeds are kinda expensive, and I can't seem to find anyone with new reed cages.<br /><br />Any help would be great. Thanks.<br /><br />P.S. - Moderators - could we get a spell checker added to this thing?
 
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