Re: '76 Chrysler 75 HP Good or Not so good???
check the engine compression and look for corrosion. If it needs rebuilding then will cost you more to have it rebuilt than to buy one that is in good running condition. <br /><br />The old Chyslers were outstanding engines in terms of reliability and cost of ownership. Their strong suit is simplicity, reliability, and non-proprietary engineering. They require minimal expense to maintain and run like clockwork. Many of the repair components can be bought through the automotive supply industry for a fraction of normal "marine" prices. A lot of NAPA stores stock parts for them and you can get stuff like starters rebuilt at auto-electric shops for $30.<br /><br />The major design weakness is noise, fuel consumption, and saltwater. The major market weakness are poor resale value and poor availability of dealer parts. <br /><br />Mercury took over in 1991. At that time Force had two major flaws - they didn't sell for top dollar and they never broke. I.e. manufacturing a chrysler force engine didn't bring in a lot of cash to either the showroom or the parts department. So Mercury tried to tweak the engine to reduce manufacturing costs and increase parts revenue. It didn't work out very well. They ended up with an unreliable engine that still didn't generate enough parts revenue because people could still go to NAPA. So they killed it and cut production. When their inventory sells out the part is no longer available from mercury.<br /><br />The major engineering design weakness is salt water. The engines were designed for fresh water use. If you want to use them in salt water then you need to replace the swivel shaft, pivot shaft, trim shaft, gearcase drain, and hydraulic tubing with a more anodic alloy (or become obsessive about washing/flushing/greasing).<br /><br />These are of course just broad generalizations. I'm sure others can offer you better insight into that specific engine and year.
