So do I make the switch???

[itsaboattime]

Last father's day my '83 50 horse Johnson gave up and threw a ring on the lower clyinder. I'm not gonna fix it. I am looking at repowering. Now, I can get a complete 80 horse Mercury set-up with controls reasonably priced.

Here is my delemma. I have long been a small contributer to the Johnson and Evinrude repair thread here. I feel I know them fairly well. I don't know squat about Mercs. I have been lurking around on the Mercury repair thread the past few days and it seems to me there are alot of questions asked that never get replys.

The last thing I wanna do is drop my hard earned money into an outboard that I really don't know very well and not be able to find knowledgable help here if I have an issue with it.

So what are some opinions? Do I jump in with both feet and make the switch? Do I let the boat sit and wait until I find just as sweet a deal on an OMC??

Mods........If I have started a pissing match with this post, please accept my "I'm sorry" right now!!!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: So do I make the switch???

If you switch, you also have to switch controls, which could be an additional expense.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: So do I make the switch???

Unless it's a screaming deal....I'd much prefer a nice OMC triple.

 

[itsaboattime]

Re: So do I make the switch???

Unless it's a screaming deal....I'd much prefer a nice OMC triple.

It's a full package, outboard, controls, installed..............$650.00. I have done quite a bit of looking and OMC's are at least a couple hundred above that, just for the motor. I install it and use my old controls.

 

[saumon]

Re: So do I make the switch???

As in any engine related part of the forum, the no replies problem is a seasonal thing. Like you, i'm a regular poster (but in the Merc forum) and there's a lot of knowledgeable helpful guys there. It's normal, for this time of the year, to have a zillion posts like ?help, my engine don't start? or ?continuous beep, should i run it like that?, but thoses are made by people who clearly don't know how/want to use the search feature and are in a rush cause they're stuck. They also usually know squat about maintenance and the regular posters get annoyed to try helping peoples who doesn't want to help themselves.

So don't worry, if you put details on your post and show that you want to learn, they'll help you.

What year is the 80hp Merc? Is it a 1987-1993 3 cylinders? If so, they're great reliable engines. If you take it, let me know so i'll give you the link to download the OEM service manual.

BTW, your '83 50hp is crank rated, so it's more like a 42-45hp. Chances are you boat will fly with a 80hp!

 

[ufm82]

Re: So do I make the switch???

Honestly, I don't see much difference between brands back that far. Unless it has electronics on the engine everything is pretty much comparable. Granted, every brand has it's own idiosyncracies but basically they are similar. I've had Johnsons, Evinrudes and Mercs and all have been good engines for me. For $650 for the package I'd have a hard time passing on that.

UFM82