Removing the top cover from 1958 Thunderbolt Mark 55?

[Chinewalker]

You mean an engine hoist? Harbor Freight engine hoists seem quite good to me.....as is maybe half of their stuff. If only they would quit marketing ultra cheap crap to lure people in. Not aware of a shop crane though that means almost nothing.

OldMercs wants $75 plus $20 to ship the manual....so off to Ebay for roughly half price. Who cares about some shop usage.

Just found out that iboats carries a lot of stuff. The prices have been good so far.

If they could make a small 40hp over 65 years ago, why are they so huge now?

Yeah, engine hoist, shop crane, quicker-picker-upper, whatever ya call it...

Why? Motors got more complex. The 40-cube 40hp evolved into the 45 cube 50hp. They added exhaust tuner and through hub exhaust - a nice improvement and the industry standard now. Downside, mid-sections got bigger to accommodate the exhaust added bits. The lower unit got bigger to accommodate the through-hub bits. Upside, motors got quieter and a bit more efficient.

A simple magneto with a single coil became a belt-driven distributor with a larger coil and a ignition brain box. That evolved into full electronic brain box with four coils and added trigger assembly. Then they added crankshaft driven oil pump with external oil tank. Then they decided to move the tank under the hood. Along the way a "standard shaft" length of 15 inches became 20-inches. In more recent years, the shift from smoky 2-strokes to 4-stroke or clean 2-stroke tech has added yet more complexity and weight. Some of the "improvements" did indeed make the motors better. Some, not so much, but the creep of complexity resulted in motors getting bigger and heavier over time.

 

[DeepCMark58A]

A spray mister bottle of properly mixed gas will work as well as starting fluid.