TOPIC: The first Black Stack

In 1962 Mercury painted the Merc 1000 Phantom Black, but continued to paint other models Cloud White.
The Phantom Black was such a hit with customers, that in 1963 ALL Mercury outboards were Phantom Black.
Last week Conrad, (Milkdud), shared a craigslist ad for a Merc 1000 short shaft that he had spotted. It was located in eastern Washington state, about 3+ hours away from me and over some snowy mountain passes this time of year, and 'several' states away from where Conrad is located.
Conrad asked if I thought it had a trim tab water pick-up, based on the poor quality pictures on CL.
I agreed with Conrad that I suspected he was correct & asked him if he wanted to buy it and have me ship it.
We both knew that on top of the asking price, ($500 for the boat motor & trailer), was way too costly for a Mystery Meat Mercury, but I asked anyway.
Conrad agreed that it wasn't cost effective.
I didn't feel like messing with the logistics of trying to tow a heavy old boat across the pass and on the freeway for over 4 hours on tires that hadn't turned since the 1960s, so both Conrad and I bagged the idea of buying this old Merc.
Realizing the old beast was probably one of the first Phantom Black Stacks, based on the possibility that it had a trim tab water pick-up,...I just couldn't stop thinking about the thing.
I called a pal that lives in the same city as the Merc and asked him if he would go across town and check it out for me.
He did and his pictures confirmed my hopes.
Not only was the beast one of the first Merc 1000(s), it was pristine inside and out. It was owned by a 93 year old grandmother that had asked her grandson to sell the old family pleasure boat.
She is still alive and told her grandson to sell the,..."1959 home built boat with trailer and 100 h.p. Mercury outboard. Been setting in storage and last used in the 60's. Boat needs to be totally restored. The boat is a 18' long. Selling for my 93 year old grandma, she said in it's prime it pulled 6 professional skiers at one time and also went salmon fishing in the ocean.",...
Initially the grandson did not want to sell the Merc separately from the boat & trailer, but I explained where I was located and the danger as well as difficulty and potential consequences I faced when considering towing the assembly across the pass.
Eventually I was able to bribe him into selling me just the Merc, controller, and any hardware I could talk my pal into stripping off the boat.
He volunteered to help strip parts off the hull with my pal just as soon as my pal showed up with cash in hand.
An hour later the Merc was mine.
I met my pal today at a half-way point and took possession of my prize.
It is absolutely gorgeous and completely original.
Not only does it still have the seal on the crankcase - it still has the factory seal on the distributor.
I removed all the spark plugs and tilted up the beast.
Then I squirted Marvel Mystery Oil into all the cylinders and after a few hours I began very slowly turning the crankshaft.
It turned freely and smoothly throughout the entire revolutions.
I added fogging oil and continued to slowly rotate the beast.
(I wanted to try and lube up the potentially very dry cylinder walls and rings in an effort to avoid scoring the cylinder walls. So many cool old Mercs that were left unused for extended periods of time have been 'ruined' by scoring the cylinders when the new owner simply hooks the motor to a battery and spins the beast to either try and start it or try and do compression readings without first carefully lubing the cylinders)
Currently I am just letting the oil mixture soak in for the next few days.
Then I'll probably do compression tests, spark tests, etc, etc.
For now I'm just slowly trying to get some white over-spray paint off the beast's entire exterior.
Someone either spray painted the boat or the building it was in at some time in the past.
The white paint is really stuck firmly to the Phantom Black finish, but it is coming off - slowly - very slowly, but surely.
Sorry about the 'novel' but I am really happy to have snagged this piece of Mercury History.

Thom

Congrats on a great find Thom, looks to be a real treasure there!

beautiful find Thom.

Nice! And hey, what's one more Merc in the stable?

Thom

Im Im glad you got it! Would have been a shame for anyone else in the state of Washington to get it but you.

FYI, when I sent you that email I knew from the get go that it was impossible for me to get it. I was just hoping that if I put it under your nose you would be smart enough to go get it. Turns out your a smart man. Not very often will you find a 1962 short shaft 1000 with skeg water pick up. And in that condition, Id say its a once in a lifetime deal.

One more reason to come out there and see you someday.

Conrad

wow thom,thats a true beauty,and wow its clean,very nice find ,let me know how well it runs,although thats a given,with you working your magic on it,john

WOW..I'm too JEALOUS to be HAPPY for you! That IS a BEAUTY.
I found a similar early one years back in FL. I took it apart to reseal etc. A few interesting differences in the early ones.
Reed blocks are brass, Pistons are two ringers but the rings are thicker than the later two ring pistons. The rods must be slightly different forgings as they have machined beams that gets the whole rod to the width for the crank throw, later rods are only machined to width on the ends with the beam untouched. The early ones had the chrome top cowl trim and faceplate rather than the later aluminum. Obviously the water pickup is different.
Hard to believe that you got this whole, real deal, full size,
1 inch = 1 inch for less than HALF of what the K&O toy Merc 1000 goes for, the last one I saw sold for north of $1000.
Originally I was looking for the toy and realized I could get the "big toy" for less.
Nice score..
Randy

Great find and great pics of a really rare find. I am glad you posted pics as it has solved a mystery for me. My 700 DR has the same round rectifier and I was trying to find out what motor it came off off, now i now ,thanks Skip.

Nice

DAMN...ya snagged a beaut there! One more reason to stop over tomorrow...see ya after 3ish...

Well done Thom. I was in Portland over the Thanksgiving weekend and was going to give you a call and come north and visit. I couldn't break away.
Neil

Sweet.

I have a 1963 Merc 1000 but she is not very pretty yet. She may find a home on the back of the 1959 Thompson of Peshtigo 18'-8" Off-Shore Cabin Cruiser.

Andreas

Sweet.

I have a 1963 Merc 1000 but she is not very pretty yet. She may find a home on the back of the 1959 Thompson of Peshtigo 18'-8" Off-Shore Cabin Cruiser.

Andreas

Awesome Thom, she is a beauty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob

Looks like it came right off the showroom floor. Beautiful find and worth the effort.
Congrags...

GULP,...
The early ones had the chrome top cowl trim and faceplate rather than the later aluminum.
I guess I'm still on the hunt for the correct faceplate then.
This Merc was missing the faceplate, so I dug through my bins of faceplates and found the one you see. It is aluminum.
I will have to go back and dig through all the 'faceplate' bins and see if the correct one is in there somewhere, but I'm pretty sure I don't have one.

Thanks for the kind words everybody. I totally agree that such a find is rare and incredibly awesome.
This is as close to winning a lottery as I have ever come.
Thom

Cool motor, for a good price and condition. 'Frankenmerc' Caught my eye with "dug through my bins of faceplates". Trade one?

Cool motor, for a good price and condition. 'Frankenmerc' Caught my eye with "dug through my bins of faceplates". Trade one?

I was there today, the Doc doing just fine...(and his "bins of Face plates? More than bins! Today was over 50 motors in the .."operating room", alone! Forget the massive .."cold storage". Nice ta yak ya Thom, today..stop out after the New Year again..(looks "retirement life", has done good for ya!)

Conrad...saw the 62 1000 motor today too..nice catch, its damn near PRISTINE. Went to a good home..( the "Doc".. the 8th "wonder of the world".."Vacation?..put him on the "bucket" list. Email one thing, meeting him? Hard to describe. Thom, The Flatty will "darken the drive this year.."PROMISE"..(now that the G3, is "headless!"). nice ta talk ya again Thom..hit me with that question, for S+F.. Rest , be well all..(if its summer, "keep'it wet"..if the off season?.."keep it warm!".

aznative14,
If you're saying you have a nice '62 1000 faceplate - yes - I have LOTS of other Merc faceplates in my bins & I'm always open for a trade.
Either post a picture of what you have or write direct to talk horse-trading something for it or if you are just looking for a Merc face plate - I probably have it.
Thom

Robby,
I totally forgot to show you my latest Flatty hot-rod project so ya gotsta come back - ya hear me.

I was moving pretty good today & getting LOTS done for a rare change.
Doc F

sorry not trying to hyjack a great thread,but andreas ,if you need your motor painted and buffed out,i would do it for free just get it too me and have a way to get it back to you.
you have helped many folks on here,and it would be a pleasure to do the same for you,john

Thom..DAMN...I forgot about that "new addition", Flatty too! Next time out. After the Holidays...(too crazy out there for me) Seya.

THOM... In Wild Thanggg's reincarnation, she needs you to slap on that classic black stack! Wild Thanggg and that motor would be an awesome pair.

Then maybe BANDIT will be very close in performance and I will have a half-a-chance to get away from that darn SMOKEY!!!! yeeehaaa!!!

Thom, nice lil merc..... hey try some clay on that over spray, get it at most auto part stores. I have taken off alot of over spray-splater on several veh. I have owned, didnt hurt tha paint at all.

Ponyboy wrote:

Thom, nice lil merc..... hey try some clay on that over spray, get it at most auto part stores. I have taken off alot of over spray-splater on several veh. I have owned, didnt hurt tha paint at all.

That clay stuff really works! I used it years ago on my '90 King Cab before selling it, the finish was full of tree pitch and other nasties and the clay took it right out. Smooth as can be, with the buffing cloth just sliding off the hood afterwards!

The abrasive effect of the clay removes defects but is so mild, when used with the spray wax/lube, that it can't possibly hurt the finish.

Thom, I checked the Shelton Wally's and they have a Mequiar's kit in stock, under $18:

www.walmart.com/ip/Meguiar-s-Smooth-Surface-Clay-Kit/16386193

Lemme know if you need some extra elbow grease!!!!..........ed

Ponyboy wrote:

Thom, nice lil merc..... hey try some clay on that over spray, get it at most auto part stores. I have taken off alot of over spray-splater on several veh. I have owned, didnt hurt tha paint at all.

Thats what I forgot about! Thom yesterday, when he mentioned, when asked, over spray..he said, time, and Meguiers. But he was busy.
Thom, TRY THAT CLAY BAR!

Lemme know if you need some extra elbow grease!!!!..........ed[/quote]

Ed, as there yesterday..I still have "grease", side my thumb, from carrying out to the wash tub, bare blocks, him, and Bruce, then with 2 6 Stacks, me wimpy with a 4 "short stack" (Thom, think the first time I helped ya, WITHOUT you handing me gloves?) HA!. OK me, you were on a "roll" yesterday anyway..glad also to see ya looking, like a heck of a lot better too! Now, go take a nap, ya old fart!
I forgot Thoms Birthday, but if he DON"T have a party at the lake, all invited, well..lets go anyway!

Thom,
I thought '63 was the first year for the Black Stack. I have a '63 850 that is white and the 1000 was the only black model that year. Mine doesn't have the trim tab water pick up and I have checked the serial to verify that it is a '63. Did they have the black 1000 for 2 years?
Bill

My understanding is 1962 was the first year of the 90 cu. in. Merc 1000 Black Stack. 1963 was the second year for the Black 1000, and exactly the same motor as your (and mine) 850 with exception of the carburetors, tuned exhaust plate and reed stops. In 1964 all the Mercs were Phantom Black, but same as 1963 otherwise.

Thanks everybody!
I'll pick up some of the Megular's clay and sit in the chair and watch ed_mc, (my #1 Mercury Guru in case someone didn't know) as he polishes,...Right hand on - left hand off.

Thom

Fantastic find, Thom! Congrats!
As per your parts bin, do you have an 1100SS facepalte? Mine has a 900 faceplate.