1998 Crest - Mercury Force Motor cover hits Back Deck

[Scmadden30]

I recently bought this boat to take to Florida where it will live at a dock. The reason I bought it was to be able to get motor out of water when not in use. The trim tilts it up and the motor cover hits the back lounger, however, if I take cover off, it has plenty of room to move up. It all looks original so I'm unsure how it got this way, unless someone replaced cover. Any suggestions on how to fix? Modify lounger which isn't going to be easy, or is there a different motor cover that allows this to trim up further. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. I added some pics so you can better see what I'm referring to. Thanks.

 

[HotTommy]

I have an old pontoon boat with the engine mounted under the rear sun deck. The motor is larger than the original and hits the deck if raised all the way. For that reason I modified the deck so it could be raised to give more space for the engine.

 

[ahicks]

If this motor is going to be left in brackish or salt water, leaving it tilted up is a plan just about guaranteed to increase corrosion and crap build up within the motor. The motor depends on being somewhat level to drain properly internally.

 

[Scmadden30]

I have an old pontoon boat with the engine mounted under the rear sun deck. The motor is larger than the original and hits the deck if raised all the way. For that reason I modified the deck so it could be raised to give more space for the engine.

That is what I am going to have to do, thanks for the insight.

 

[Scmadden30]

If this motor is going to be left in brackish or salt water, leaving it tilted up is a plan just about guaranteed to increase corrosion and crap build up within the motor. The motor depends on being somewhat level to drain properly internally.

Living in Salt Water. Was told to keep out of water as much as possible to keep down corrosion on lower unit. You suggest to keep it level in the water, what do we do about scaling and corrosion?

 

[racerone]

Add some spacers so that motor is moved away from boat by 2" or so ??

 

[Scmadden30]

Add some spacers so that motor is moved away from boat by 2" or so ??

Great Idea

 

[ahicks]

Your call. Corroded motor internals or corroded lower unit that anodes might have a chance of dealing with?

 

[Scmadden30]

Your call. Corroded motor internals or corroded lower unit that anodes might have a chance of dealing with?

So just so I understand what your suggesting. You are stating that the motor is designed to be upright and if tilted it will cause upper internal corrosion. You recommend to leave it down and put anodes to help deal with corrosion. Am I understanding correctly? Sorry, I'm just trying to learn. This is my first boat staying in salt water. Thanks for your input.

 

[racerone]

Do not tilt motor until after the block has drained.

 

[Scott Danforth]

best would be to buy a lift and take the boat completely out of the water

or if that is not in the cards, flush the motor

 

[ahicks]

So just so I understand what your suggesting. You are stating that the motor is designed to be upright and if tilted it will cause upper internal corrosion. You recommend to leave it down and put anodes to help deal with corrosion. Am I understanding correctly? Sorry, I'm just trying to learn. This is my first boat staying in salt water. Thanks for your input.

Just understand there is going to be cooling water that's going to be trapped/not going to drain if the engine is tilted up. The idea of letting it drain for a few minutes prior to tilting may help but you're just extending the wick you have burning leaving an outboard stored in the water. Same goes with the pontoon boat itself.