TOPIC: Merc 888 motor mount issue... its frozen solid!

Hey guys Im at a stand still and need some help. I have 73 Bell Boy with a Ford 302 in it. Motor needs to come out for reworking. Everything is loose and ready to remove with exception of one of the rear motor mounts. Its locked up solid... tried 1/2 breaker bar with extension with no luck. Even tried snapping it off as suggested by a local boat shop. Nope, not happening! Guess i can try heat but it is tough to get to it? Any brillant ideas? Im afraid if I get after it with a cut off wheel I wont be able to lift the engine enough to clear the remaining stud. Any thoughts at all would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

After reading your post, I'm not sure exactly what is locked-up...the bolts that hold the motor mounts in place on the stringers? The bolts that hold the motor mounts to the block? In any case, I would do whatever I had to do to remove the engine, with or without the motor mount, and then work on things when I had room. First, you need to get the bolts attention. For a seized bolt into the block, spray it with penetrating oil and then smack the hell out of it with a good hammer...several times. Now you have the bolts attention. Repeat the process if necessary every 10 minutes or so if need be. The bolt will surrender and you WILL win!...eventually.

Sorry for the poor description as to where the issue is. The rear arrow points to the problem child. Been soaking with PB spray for some time now. More than got the attention of the bolt @$#%&@#! Looking over the fine thread nut and bolt that I could get out, it looks like at one time It received a heavy dose of locktight? Also the nut is a steel nylock 3/4 inch nut. Was told that it was supposed to be a aluminum nut originally in anticipation of this issue? It was suggested to power through the nut and snap it... no way! Broke my favorate husky socket and twisted the head of the 18 inch x 1/2 inch drive breaker bar. 👎 Guessing the head of the nut with the heat is the next step? Unless someone has a better idea oh and thank you for the reply by the way... appreciated!

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The first thing I would try would be to get a 3/4" drive impact socket (thick walls), a 10" extension and a 3/4" drive breaker bar with a 3' pipe extension. Hold the nut with a 6 point closed end wrench and then go for it. Try to position yourself so that when you do finally wring it off, you don't fall out of the boat on your ass. If that doesn't work, you'll have to go with an acetylene torch but that can be iffy with possible gas fumes.

It has been my experience that pissed-off people get stronger, which allows them to accomplish things a sensible person can not. My best idea would be to start a heated argument with your wife and then try the breaker bar. If it works, buy her a dozen roses. The voice of experience has spoken.

Jan, I've done the heated argument thing many times and it works, unbelievably effective. Slam a door, stomp around, have a few belts of your favorite tonic. Amazing how that works. I had to pull a front hub on my old Jeep and that is put on with 400 ft. lbs. torque. Used the breaker bar and socket along with a 4' water pipe and then had to stand on it and jump up and down, something was going to give and luckily it was the nut. I did twist the breaker "somewhat".
Go to a local Auto Zone and rent the socket/etc, cheaper than buying a set.

Not sure if you have the space to use one of these but a nut cracker can save you a lot of time and effort...and it's cheaper than psychoanalysis or a divorce.



For some reason, I can't post an eBay item address here. Very mysterious. Anyway, do a search for an Automotive Nut Cracker and you'll find it...$21.99.

Not sure what happened to my responses here but for some reason they are gone. I probably faild to hit the submit button. Anyway thanks once again guys for the suggestions.

So last night i cleared away anything that could catch fire and lit the torch. I was able to get the torch tip under the nut shooting the flame straight up directly on the nut end of the bolt. After about 30 seconds my buddy who was already on the bolt head with the air impact squeezed off a couple blurps. We could hear the bolt spin so we decided to ley things cool down while we had another canned attitude adjuster. Went back to discover the nut was off and we lofted the bolt right out!

Working in the antique car industry Ive had myrun ins with rusted nuts and bolts. But this bad boy was one of the most challenging so far. Thanks ahain for the help...

Glad you got it loose.
Nuatilus, the nut cracker wouldn't work, the nut is captive in the mount (transom plate) so no wrench is required.
The nut is indeed steel nylok, not aluminum. Low profile if I recall, so not really loaded in tension.