Power Tilt/Trim Installation - Late 70's Mercury 90HP

[#crnxr]

Hi all. New member and first post here, as I've been lurking and gathering as much information as possible but now want to be part of the club.
I'm helping a buddy add power trim/tilt to his late 70's Mercury 90 HP engine on a Campion. (S/N 719XXXX). It's the "Type I" dual ram with pump/motor/reservoir mounted remotely and a 4-hose arrangement. I've sourced all of the parts (some new and some old), and am about to jump in to the installation. I found an old thread circa 2009 that referenced an installation manual, but the link no longer works. Anyone have a copy they can provide? The main question I'm trying to figure out is whether I really need the separate brackets for the powered cylinders with additional bolts into the transom, or can I just mount the new cylinders where the current shock absorbers are at? Any other tips, like which parts do I need to take off of the manual trim/tilt when we go to PTT? Thanks in advance.

Kyle

 

[BWR1953]

I'll be dealing with a similar situation pretty soon, hopefully by the end of the year. Gonna take the trim unit from a 90HP midsection and install it on a 70HP engine using that same system.

I'll be following along!

I did find a couple of links which might help a little.

 

[#crnxr]

Nice to know I have company in this endeavor. So far I’ve done a line-item parts list comparison between the manual and electric versions on paper, and figure it will be obvious when I get my hands dirty which parts are obsolete. Thank you for the videos. I happened to find them too and have watched them many times trying to pick up the details. Updates to follow soon.

 

[Chris1956]

You will quickly find that the power trim cylinders are a lot longer than the shock absorbers, hence the PTT brackets. The PTT cylinders mount on the shock lower mounts, and bolt to the separate PTT mounts. The PTT brackets mount to the shock upper mounts, if I remember correctly.

 

[#crnxr]

Hey again. Following up now that the installation is complete. We located the port and starboard ram brackets to each side of the existing motor mount and drilled/fastened them through the transom. The rams then attached to the brackets at the top and the motor at the bottom. Ran new hydraulic lines from the ram to the motor/pump assembly in the bilge area and connected the switch to the motor/pump assembly and battery. Ran the pump for a few seconds in each direction and the system seemed to self-bleed. The motor doesn't come up quite as high with the hydraulic rams as with the manual tilt, so we have to pull the motor up the last inch or so to get the manual tilt support levers to engage for trailering. Anyway, hope this helps anyone who is going to attempt the same thing. We got the parts off of Ebay for a total of about $900 ($300 for pump/motor assembly from Eastlake Marine, $175 for hoses, $75 for OEM switch, $200 for used rams, $150 for trim brackets.

 

[BWR1953]

Hey again. Following up now that the installation is complete. We located the port and starboard ram brackets to each side of the existing motor mount and drilled/fastened them through the transom. The rams then attached to the brackets at the top and the motor at the bottom. Ran new hydraulic lines from the ram to the motor/pump assembly in the bilge area and connected the switch to the motor/pump assembly and battery. Ran the pump for a few seconds in each direction and the system seemed to self-bleed. The motor doesn't come up quite as high with the hydraulic rams as with the manual tilt, so we have to pull the motor up the last inch or so to get the manual tilt support levers to engage for trailering. Anyway, hope this helps anyone who is going to attempt the same thing. We got the parts off of Ebay for a total of about $900 ($300 for pump/motor assembly from Eastlake Marine, $175 for hoses, $75 for OEM switch, $200 for used rams, $150 for trim brackets.

Glad you got it done!

Do you have pix & video of the process?

 

[Chris1956]

If I remember correctly, the PTT brackets bolt to the upper shock mounts. 1/2" fine thread stainless bolts are used. It looks kinds funny, as the bolt seems out of place, in the middle of the brackets. There was also a lower long thin bolt that held the bottom of the trim brackets as well.

Glad you got it working.

BTW - The motor is supposed to be tilted by hand the last 1" to engage the manual lock.