Newbie whining about carb access on early 70's Merc 500s...

[ledgefinder]

I'm trying to 'do the right thing' and rebuild the carbs on a '74 Merc 50hp 4cylinder. The motor has sat for three years & I want to be sure I get the gum out of the jets before I run it hard. However on this motor the carbs are buried under a pile of other components. I've removed the front cowling support, to which many components are attached (electric and manual choke linkages, switch box, etc.). I took the coil off & the starter. I now can at least remove the main jet drain plugs. However, to get access to the upper carb bolts, looks like I need to remove the mag, which I think means the flywheel has to come off. Seems a little unreasonable to have to remove the flywheel, distributor, starter, etc. to remove the carbs. Further, the fuel line fittings are such that to remove them, you need to rotate the carburators (the fitting itself doesn't turn). Need to redo the fuel lines because a mouse living in the motor over the winter decided to chew through them. Ungrateful $#!, I hope the cats got him. Anyway, is there an easier way to do this, or am I just whining? Thanks, LF

 

[rml]

Re: Newbie whining about carb access on early 70's Merc 500s...

Don't know 'bout the '74 but it sounds a lot like my '63 Merc 500. Great motors but a b%^&* to work on even the simple stuff. I am lucky enough to have a Mercury guy about 7 miles away. btw, a little cheese makes the wine taste really good, besides you could bait that mouse with it <br /><br />Good Luck<br /><br /> --rml