TOPIC: Old Mercurys, new to me

I just aquired a 1961 800 "dock buster" and a 64 6hp.
They both start but have sat for about 10 years so I understand they will likly need new impellers and maybe carb rebuilds. My question is can these become reliable? I love how they look, but don't want to be stranded. I'm in Seattle but have not found anyone willing to work on them yet. Any leads?
Or should I just try to sell them?

very good motors. yours are nice condition.

The best guy I know to make sure your Classic Mercs are ready for the water is my good friend Thom, aka "Doc Frankenmerc". He lives in Shelton, at Island Lake. Repairing and restoring these old gems is his specialty. He's on this forum as "Dr_Frankenmerc" and here's his profile where you can contact him:

fiberglassics.com/cb-profile/1913-dr-frankenmerc.html

Check out his postings in the "Mercury Outpost" forum and you'll see that he knows what he's talking about!

Nice-looking motors, BTW. That 80hp is a great-running engine. When it's tuned properly, it'll just purr. So will the 6hp, they are good runners as well.

Thanks, sounds like it is worth putting some money and effort into them. Which is what I wanted to hear! I'll try and get in touch with Thom.

Yeah, those old Dockbusters are very cool. The 800 is quite special because they didn't make them for that long. The "top hat" cover is unique because it doesn't have a decal, it has individual chromed metal letters. I imagine that was a tad more expensive for the factory to do it that way. But they look really sharp because of it. Thom is great on tuning the old ones, and the Dockbusters really need a special hand to get them right. They can be quite cranky and extremely difficult to use unless you know how to set them up properly.

Many Moons ago I had an old 700E on a 13-1/2' Sea-King runabout and it would really fly! Had it tuned to a Gnat's-Arse and you could just touch the start button and away we went. We did a lot of waterskiing on Tiger Lake with that $25 motor and cheap boat!!

And no rewind in that top hat. only one back then.

dave bernard wrote: And no rewind in that top hat. only one back then.

Yeah, I can just imagine trying to rope over one of these, with it starting in gear and all! Never had any trouble roping over my old '64 Merc 1000, though. Good ol' FGS!

At 12 yrs old I could rope a mark 75 with someone at the wheel.

dave bernard wrote: At 12 yrs old I could rope a mark 75 with someone at the wheel.

WOO-HOO, GIDDYUP!