T.O.P- in-line 6 Mercury 'ya or 'na

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pckkc

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Oct 26, 2004
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11
Hello,Outboarders. Without trying to start any heated arguments or name calling,are these motors deserving of the name-Tower of Power-were they really under-rated in the stated horsepower? Pros and/or cons?? Reliability?? Lets see if we can get some intelligent feedback about these monsters,Thanks.
 
JasonJ

JasonJ

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Messages
4,163
Re: T.O.P- in-line 6 Mercury 'ya or 'na

I am hideously biased towards mercs, especially inline 6 outboards. I am on my second I6 a 1969 Merc 1250. It runs great, and is dependable. My previous I6 was a 1963 Merc 850, equally dependable. Now, are they worthy of the moniker of Tower Of Power? I feel they are. They were the power leaders of their day, despite what the Johnyrude camp may say. My belief is that the Johnyrudes were intended more for the day to day fishing/cruising duties. They were very reliable and worked well throughout the powerband. The Mercs were a little more speed oriented, quite lightweight for the power. They are more happy in the upper 1/3rd of their throttle. Anything above 3800 rpms is a good thing for a Merc, and they can reliably exceed 6000 rpms. They were also fully jeweled (all roller bearings) before the competition. I think it is a matter of taste to be honest. You really can't go wrong with a Johnnyrude or a Merc, but that tall narrow cowl is very destinctive, and is alone worth having the motor. In summary, yes, they are worth the name and then some. Just my admittedly biased opinion.... :)
 
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pckkc

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Oct 26, 2004
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Re: T.O.P- in-line 6 Mercury 'ya or 'na

Thanks Jason.I'm starting to feel the same way about these Old Mercs'. I'm picking up a '69 1000 on saturday..... It was posted on e-Bay and had only 1 bidder-me! $200 !! I was assured that it runs good just have to re-assemble lower unit for the water pump change,nothing major.I really hope it's as good as it sounds-unusual for me is I trust the person selling this and hope it'll run as well as my '65 500.I checked out your posts and pictures the other night,you did some nice lookin' work on that Silverline-I did the same thing; I got a 17'Boston Whaler for $400 and spent about $300 in fiberglass and gel-coat!! awesome boat though,goes pretty good with the 500,figure it should be almost scary with 100 horses.Well,stay cool Sergeant,I just wanted to get some input on the in-line 6's.Thanks again,C.C.
 
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phatmanmike

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Oct 24, 2003
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Re: T.O.P- in-line 6 Mercury 'ya or 'na

watermark.php
<br /><br />this is a pic of my 1976 merc 1150 that i had for abuot 6 months, and then sopld on ebay for$1101.40 and purchased my 1989 merc 90hp 3 cylinder.<br /><br />i kick myself daily.<br /><br />my 1150 had to have been the best running, EASIEST STARTING, COOLEST,BADDEST, MOST KICKING-assest motor ever invented!!! where else could you get a 6 cylinder outboard motor that only weighed in at 270 lbs. and since the 90 - 150 were almost exactly the same motors, that means you could have 150hp at 270lbs squeezed outa just 99ci block. they were at the time and still are today the highest rated hp per ci motor ever made for outboards!! thats 1.5 hp per ci.lets see a johnny rude beat that !!! <br /><br />my reasons for selling it were:<br />guzzled gas like there was no tommorrow<br />very tall, couldnt fold down my bimini AND tilt the motor at same time.<br />no tilt/trim<br />did i mention guzzled gass?!<br /><br />id love to have another in a heartbeat. it screamed. it would max out at 5600 rpm and i know it just wanted more. i ran pure synthetics through the top and bottom end . she purred. idle great. i couldnt have asked for a greater running motor, but at 2.25 a gallon for food, i just couldnt afford to feed her anymore!<br /><br />here is a link to the ebay listing i sold it on, lots of pics, and detailed info about the motor. <br /><br />sad to see the ol girl go!!! :( <br /><br />mike
 
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phatmanmike

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Oct 24, 2003
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3,869
Re: T.O.P- in-line 6 Mercury 'ya or 'na

one more thing, anybody who has ever owned one, will say that they were the slickest thing since sliced bread.<br /><br />its only the people who have never had one that have bad news about them.
 
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pckkc

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Oct 26, 2004
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Re: T.O.P- in-line 6 Mercury 'ya or 'na

Jason and Phatman,I'll let you guys know sunday or monday how this motor runs.I'm almost shaking with anticipation....Should go back together and be runnin' by noon time sunday........F***in' excitement.!!!!!!!!
 
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2cycle

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Mar 12, 2004
Messages
234
Re: T.O.P- in-line 6 Mercury 'ya or 'na

I really like my mid 70s 1500, esp. after a rebuild and tuning. They have a very distinct sound at the higher RPMs IMO. They are very thirsty as Phatman mentioned. Parts are easy to come by through ebay and TOP enthusiasts/specialists like Clams Canino. After working on mine, I find them fairly simple and well designed. You will be stoked for days to come after hearing it start up for the first time. Just be sure to prime the heck out of the priming bulb and force extra fuel into the cylinders before choking during cold starts if that one is anything like mine. After someone told me that procedure on starting, I have had no problems since. Good luck.
 
JasonJ

JasonJ

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Joined
Aug 20, 2001
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Re: T.O.P- in-line 6 Mercury 'ya or 'na

Make sure you have a strong battery as well. The faster it spins while trying to start, the quicker it will start. When it is cold, like in the 30s or 40s, I like to run jumpers from my trolling battery to my starting battery (they are in different parts of the boat). That way it spins fast and starts more quickly. It wouldn't surpise me if the rectifier is shot on yours, a $3.00 bridge rectifier from Radio Shack, mounted on a small aluminum heat sink works wonders. They really run better when they are charging. I ran my 1250 for a whole season with a bad rectifier and finally did the fix at the end of that season. The motor gained several hundred rpms just being able to provide itself with max juice. Anyway, good luck with it...
 
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pckkc

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Oct 26, 2004
Messages
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Re: T.O.P- in-line 6 Mercury 'ya or 'na

I got the 1000 fired up today....#3 hole is reading 5 - pounds compression...Started right away though,a little rough until 2500 or so...It's not running on muffs,but a garden hose directly into the water tube -lower unit is off for water pump change..Rectifier is good!!It's charging!!Waiting for Seloc manual to arrive.I'm hoping a good de-carb might bring some p.s.i. back to # 3...I can wish cant I..??Thanks for the responses...Keep 'em runnin',,Chris..
 
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rodbolt

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 1, 2003
Messages
20,066
Re: T.O.P- in-line 6 Mercury 'ya or 'na

at 5 psi your going to find out why it was so cheap. no amount of decarb will help. the nice thing is that most all the parts are avalible and they are not difficult to put back together,saltwater motors excluded :) :)
 
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pckkc

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Oct 26, 2004
Messages
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Re: T.O.P- in-line 6 Mercury 'ya or 'na

Well, Captain Rod here's what I found.I took off the exhaust port cover on the starboard side of the motor.I compared the #3 rings to # 4 rings and noticed #3 rings had more carbon and slime on them.Makes sense if the fuel/oil mix isn't burning right??? So,with a few squirts of liquid wrench and a little prodding with my jack knife I was able to restore a little tension on the 2 lower rings against the cylinder.Put the cover on and tested it again-30 pounds.. Yup.up to 30 pounds..I got a feeling that this cylinder might of lost spark and the un-burned fuel sat and coagulated the rings...The kid who had this motor put it on a 16 foot boat.he may of never noticed the power loss,and,after all,the plugs in this thing (and the distributor cap,rotor,trigger disc)were so worn and dirty that having no spark in number #3 kinda' makes sense.So tomorrow night I shall test the p.s.i in # 3 hole.I really hate to say this Captain Rod,but,a good de-carb WILL help.
 
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phatmanmike

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Oct 24, 2003
Messages
3,869
Re: T.O.P- in-line 6 Mercury 'ya or 'na

dont **** off rod bolt, you wouldnt like hime when he's angry! gets big and green
 
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fish4fun2

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Jun 25, 2004
Messages
21
Re: T.O.P- in-line 6 Mercury 'ya or 'na

HI guys I just got my 1976 1500 on my boat going to do a compression test in the morning, if thats good and i hope it is then i will be taking apart the lower end to replace the water pump and inerds, any one hear of getting Internal engine wire harness? I need one... Man i have not been able to fire it up yet but i am hopping its all good.
 
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