I have a few questions I was wondering if people could answer - as I know nothing about this stuff. I bought a boat, know noone that owns one, and dont have many places to visit that sell them (new that is). I used the boat for about 3 years then let it sit for many years...<br /><br />The boat engine never ran so great, and I am going to attempt to get her started but want to do so on dry land instead of sitting on a lake in front of people watching me pull on my engine for 2 hours lol...is there a way? It's a 9.9 Mercury Outboard.<br /><br />This engine has 3 positions.. What are they for and what do they do (other than pulling it out of the water for trailering on the highest setting)?<br /><br />(here's a real dumb one) - I had my engine clips attached to a battery, but seeing as it is a pull start, I can't figure out why this is. The battery was for lights, bilge etc..but can't remember if it was necessary to have the battery for the engine to start on a pull start.<br /><br /><br />What is the best way to 'tune up' an engine, and can a complete newbie take an engine apart and 'rebuild' it to get the running and speed performance it deserves? Keep in mind that I have never had a problem taking something apart and putting it back together without any prior knowledge to how or why things worked less some research. I am a reverse engineering expert so to speak so ...what do you think? How about just 'tuning' it up?<br /><br />On the back of my transom, on a 1969 boat that was neglected, there are indentations from the engine turn dials pushing into all those years and riding along on bumpy roads etc...should I strap a piece of ply on each side for reinforcement? The transom 'seems' ok - I did a rubber mallet test that someone else told me to do to test the viability of this transom...I am also going to drill some inspection holes to be sure... <br /><br /><br />Hmm what else - OH yea - is there a way to get more speed out of a boat by using a different prop? Also what happens if a prop gets 'dinged'..I heard somewhere that this can throw the shaft of the engine into a wacky situation so it's important to grind down and balance props after every even minor ding if I plan on running long distances with the engine as this may warp or damage the 'rods' inside the shaft???? <br /><br />Ok that's about it...I leave it to the real experts here to input on... <br />THANKS!!!!<br /><br />S
<br /><br />HOw do you do a compression test? take it to the marina and have them do it?<br /><br />Yea I was going to put it in a big garbage can - but I am afraid to have that oily water going back into the intake - is that bad? <br /><br />S