TOPIC: Invitation

I know this is short notice, but we will be holding our 7th annual Spring Dust Off meet here at Silver Lake on June 2nd. Should be lots of old Mercs & boats. For more info go to Nickle City Classics .
I'll be bringing this.
Tim

Wow, what kind of engine is that, Tim?

Good to see you here. It's been years.

Ken Sikora

looks like a merc 50 or so......

It's a hot rod Merc, classic boaters beware!

See ya there, but no boat this year. Trying to get the jack plate on, one thing after another, new-to-us travel trailer needs a few things, trying to fix up the old one for sale, yard work, gardens, dishes, you name it. Oh yeah, I have a full time job too...

Frank

Frank you need some pipes like that for your 1350.

I don't think so, mama wouldn't go for it, and I don't want a pontoon boat...

Frank

Ken;
Long story.. The powerhead started life as a 1965 Merc 500. The leg & lower were a 63 350. The swivel & trim came from a 79 650. Pan & hat are from a 61 450. The leg & pan had to be redrilled to accept the 65 powerhead as the bolt pattern is different. Had to use the early pan because with the pipes there"s no place to attach the shift & throttle linkage & the older ones had it all attached in the bottom of the pan. Brackets had to be made to attach the hat because the later block doesn't have them. Used the 63 lower because it's considerably shorter than it's later counterparts in order to get it up out of the water as far as possible. This created another challenge as I wanted to use the larger diameter prop shaft only available in the later motors. So I had the reverse gear re-machined to accept the bigger shaft & used a later bearing carrier. Then there was the cooling system. All through hub motors dump the cooling water through the exhaust but with the pipes it can't go there. Had to plumb it all so it dumps out the rear of the bottom pan. Them there was the swivel assembly, none of the short shaft swivels made before 1970 will accept the trim cylinders & the later ones are longer where the swivel pin goes through. So I shortened the swivel bracket & pin to fit the early leg. Was a 5 month re-engineering project(nightmare),but it all works. This is what you'd call a true FRANKENMERC .
Tim