Recent content by Chris1956

Gee, how about installing a powered jack plate. It can lift the motor high up for those shallow spots and lower it down for the high speed deep water runs. Jets are about 1/3 less efficient than props. For equivalent performance, you would need more power with a jet drive.

Outboards are pretty at home in salt water. They are mostly aluminum and are pretty resistant to corrosion. I run my OBs all summer in salt water, keep the boat hulls in salt water and almost never flush them during the season. They are 33 and 28 years old, respectively. They will not last...

In case you do not know. Either of the yellow stator wires will provide the tach signal. Many older Mercs with lesser (say 9 Amp) charging systems were unregulated, consisting of only a full wave rectifier. They relied on the battery to absorb any excess current. a V6 engine has a 35Amp...

Gee, the Mercury 60* V6 motors are a proven design. That doesn't mean that someone cannot cause them to become damaged, but they have a real good track record. The first 2 cycle 60* V6 was made in 1978 in 150/175 HP. They were manufactured for 30 some years with changes to the ignition...

Gee, the watercooled VR on my '98 Johnny 150HP Oceanrunner has the purple and grey wire connected. I am surprised your new VR did not have the purple wire connection. The purple wire usually gives the VR a "sense" of the voltage in the wiring harness, allowing it to charge properly. The...

Gee, I have done fiberglass work in the dead of winter here in the NE. I put some blankets over the hull and an electric heater inside. Remember, poly resin is flammable, so one needs to be careful.

The nice thing about the SOC is that there are folks there who have owned and worked on SeaSwirl boats and know them quite well. They have knowledge that is much more useful than a boat owners manual.

Easy stuff, the motor is overheating. Rebuild the waterpump with an impeller two gaskets and a wear plate. Check the waterpump base for overheat and scratches. Replace it. If the waterpump cover has scratches, replace it.

There is a SeaSwirl owners club (SOC) forum. They may have the info. Seastriper.com was the link, but I think they moved to a facebook only site.

You can put poly resin and cloth over epoxy. The epoxy just needs to be sanded to remove the gloss. When I have a serious structural repair, I often use epoxy due to it's strength. Over it, I use poly putty or fairing material, to smooth for painting.

The Merc 135HPV6 is/was a 2.0L engine. Merc initially made 2.0L versions of the 150 and 200HP V6 engines, but I believe they lacked the torque expected. Those blocks were upgraded to the 2.4 and finally the 2.5L blocks. The 135HP 2.0L motor is a good one for the appropriate planning hull. I...

Lou, it is a real advantage to have the engines under the deck. My neighbor has an I/O with a 8" tall doghouse over the motor. It was a toe tripper every time you tried to walk around.

A service manual would help you check out the ign system. Marineengine used to sell factory service manuals. You would need an engine model number to get the exact one for your motor.

A lot of those style boats are made for the deck to come up easily to allow work on the manifolds and replace the engines. A lot of them have large hatches that just pop off to allow the kind of access you need.

My guess is that Merc has been using the resiweld on their motors since the 60s, before locktite was invented.