1973 Mercury 115 HP tilt/trim help!

[king-99]

Hi,
I am new to this hobby and baught my first boat (1976 Baja 16' with Merc 115 HP Thunderbolt plus trailer for $900).Thought I got a good deal, but had my full share of rookie mistakes (but I am not giving up at all, I like challanges)..here I am looking at after few months of being the proud owner of this rig.
1) had to change the floor and stringer..had a soft spot on the floor.
2) Outboord is 6 cyl, 115 HP Mercury tower of power and does not have power tilt/trim(I didnt knew what it was until recently). Even the mercruiser remote control does not have the t/t buttons.
3) looked through spark plug holes and saw thick carbon buildup but motor was firing up when I baught it. Plugs are ok though.
4) I saw a small spring (broken) attached to the transom mount and the motor,I think this helps holding the motor in place if bangs agains the objects under water while in forward motion. Do I need to replace it?
My question is I cant afford to install a Power t/t, is there a way to tilt the motor from inside the boat? This baby is heavy!!! and takes two people to lift and put the lock pin in. Does this old of a boat had a tilt/trim in the first place? please help a new boater! Also am yet to ride on this boat and feel the open water breez!!

Thanks

Rick

 

[Emberblade]

Re: 1973 Mercury 115 HP tilt/trim help!

Hi King,
I've got a similar engine, a Mercury 1150 Thunderbolt, with trim, from 1974. I will post pictures of the trim setup tomorrow if you'd like. The buttons aren't on the remote control, they're on a separate panel in front of the throttle. My power trim is disconnected, and we have to push the engine up by hand... I'm not sure there's any other way unfortunately, but someone more outboard savvy than I may have something to say about that. It is SO heavy. That engine probably weighs close to 300 pounds. Run some Seafoam spray in your gas mix or spray it into the carburetors to remove that carbon. Usually it's not good to have carbon in your engine. (Probably never good to have it in your engine. Again, not 100% here.) No idea about the spring.
Best of luck,
Matt

 

[monk-monk]

Re: 1973 Mercury 115 HP tilt/trim help!

king-99...to tilt the motor up while your in the boat...on the top cowl there is an opening at the back of it, grab that and at the same time, put your foot on the lower cowling section...there's like two triangles that come off the lower cowling at the front of the motor...kinda makes it square looking...push down on the lower cowling while picking up on the top cowling...kinda hard to explain...