I’m buying a Starcraft with the 110hp I/O.

rotor_av8

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Jan 30, 2008
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What are some important things to look over on this boat. I’m headed out to do a water test and I’m not afraid of a little bit of work but I also don’t wanna pay too much for something that needs a massive amount. How long of a job is replacing the boot where the drive goes through the hull? What should I check for on the boot? I’m planning to check compression but what should this engine have for compression? Thank you for all of your replies in advance.
 

roscoe

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what engine?
what outdrive?
what boat?
glass or aluminum ?
what year?
 
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Scott Danforth

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What are some important things to look over on this boat. I’m headed out to do a water test and I’m not afraid of a little bit of work but I also don’t wanna pay too much for something that needs a massive amount. How long of a job is replacing the boot where the drive goes through the hull? What should I check for on the boot? I’m planning to check compression but what should this engine have for compression? Thank you for all of your replies in advance.
stop.

this sounds like an old OMC stringer motor with the old 2.5 liter single throat carb

If so, most parts are no-longer available.

compression would be 140 psi new,

if the boot is shot, what other things were neglected?

since you dont want to pay too much for something that needs a massive amount of work. this is the pure definition of a boat that you will pour both money and time into.

stringer drives require you to pull the drive to slip the boot over. that in itself is about 20 minutes to pull the drive and about 45 minutes to R&R the boot.

however the ball gears are about $400 for the kit and about half a day to a full day to replace.

if you find the vertical drive shaft has not been replaced, you should plan on that so it doesnt strip out and leave you stranded. that involves a complete tear down of the upper and lower gear boxes.
 

rotor_av8

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Jan 30, 2008
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140 PSI, wow! That’s on par with a 2 stroke jet ski. I’m a bit surprised. Thank you. That all sounds doable. I had an old seabird cuddy cabin with an old OMC that was hard to get parts for. How are these 110 Mercruisers parts wise?
 

racerone

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Mercruiser might be a 1963-1966 model with 153 cube GM motor.-----Finding parts takes time.
 

Scott Danforth

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mercruisers dont have boots.

muncie gear works and OMC did
 

matt167

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You won’t find parts for the old 110. But you can convert it to a MC 1 R or MR 1 or alpha one with a rotted junker boat
 

racerone

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Rotor----Is convinced he has a Mercruiser.-----Had someone phone me years ago about advice on a Mercruiser.----Did not take long to figure out he had an OMC electric shift that had been painted black.
 

rotor_av8

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Jan 30, 2008
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Rotor----Is convinced he has a Mercruiser.-----Had someone phone me years ago about advice on a Mercruiser.----Did not take long to figure out he had an OMC electric shift that had been painted black.
It says Mercruiser on a plate on the starboard side of the outdrive. The shape is somewhat similar to an OMC electric shift that I owned in the past though. I suppose someone could have painted it and stuck the plate on there, weird thing to do though.

I only briefly got to glance at the boat. I stopped to see if a neighbor would sell it and only their kid was home who called the owner. When the owner is back in town we are taking it on the lake to test drive then I’ll buy it most likely. The valve cover on the engine looks like an older Chevy one to me. I’m not sure if there is a boot through the hull, I’ll get to see it in the daylight when I test drive it. If there is one I guess I’ll just look for cracks or fatigued rubber. I was asking questions now because there won’t be time to ask while I’m inspecting the boat. It’s a Holiday, just looking for common things to look for from a group I thought would know.
 
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I have a 65' Holiday that originally came with the 110HP Mercruiser. The previous owner cracked the block but gave me all the other parts. I ended up changing over to an MC1 engine (still 2.5 liter Mercruiser but 120HP) Most of the small parts changed over but lots of the larger parts are pretty hard to find (exhaust manifold, outdrive setup, etc). But as long as there's nothing majorly wrong with it and could just use a good tune up you should be good. Spark plugs, bellows, carb, ignition system are all pretty common to get replacements/ rebuild kits for
 

rotor_av8

Seaman
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Jan 30, 2008
Messages
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I have a 65' Holiday that originally came with the 110HP Mercruiser. The previous owner cracked the block but gave me all the other parts. I ended up changing over to an MC1 engine (still 2.5 liter Mercruiser but 120HP) Most of the small parts changed over but lots of the larger parts are pretty hard to find (exhaust manifold, outdrive setup, etc). But as long as there's nothing majorly wrong with it and could just use a good tune up you should be good. Spark plugs, bellows, carb, ignition system are all pretty common to get replacements/ rebuild kits for
Thank you for the useful information, I appreciate it. I get to drive it sometime after October 7th.
 
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