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#1
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How to assess the value and reliability of an old but rebuilt outboard
I am considering buying a boat with an old (c. 1975) 115hp Mercury
outboard. According to the seller, it was rebuilt about 300 hours ago and runs great. Assuming the basic checks came back fine (compression, lower unit oil, etc.) and that it was rebuilt by a reputable place, is an old but recently rebuilt outboard a good idea? Put another way, is a 300 hour rebuilt engine comparable to any other 300 hour rebuilt engine, or does the old age add significant negative issues? Also, any guess as to the value of such an outboard? Finally, is there some natural limit to the numbe of times you can do a major rebuild on an outboard? |
#2
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Sailman wrote:
I am considering buying a boat with an old (c. 1975) 115hp Mercury outboard. According to the seller, it was rebuilt about 300 hours ago and runs great. Assuming the basic checks came back fine (compression, lower unit oil, etc.) and that it was rebuilt by a reputable place, is an old but recently rebuilt outboard a good idea? Put another way, is a 300 hour rebuilt engine comparable to any other 300 hour rebuilt engine, or does the old age add significant negative issues? Also, any guess as to the value of such an outboard? Finally, is there some natural limit to the numbe of times you can do a major rebuild on an outboard? Get in touch with Clams Camino here...he's the ranking old Merc expert... I'd say that even if your 30 year old engine is running, its value is marginal, if, by value, you mean what someone would be willing to pay for it in a reasonable period of time. -- We today have a president of the United States who looks like he is the son of Howdy Doody or Alfred E. Newman, who isn't smarter than either of them, who is arrogant about his ignorance, who is reckless and incompetent, and whose backers are turning the United States into a pariah. What, me worry? |
#4
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"Sailman" wrote in message om... I am considering buying a boat with an old (c. 1975) 115hp Mercury outboard. According to the seller, it was rebuilt about 300 hours ago and runs great. Assuming the basic checks came back fine (compression, lower unit oil, etc.) and that it was rebuilt by a reputable place, is an old but recently rebuilt outboard a good idea? Put another way, is a 300 hour rebuilt engine comparable to any other 300 hour rebuilt engine, or does the old age add significant negative issues? Also, any guess as to the value of such an outboard? Finally, is there some natural limit to the numbe of times you can do a major rebuild on an outboard? I once bought a boat with a 115 Merc attached, I think it was about a 1984 engine. The engine ran fine my first season. When I put her in the water on the second season it worked for 10 minutes then the shaft running from the engine to the prop broke. From everything I could find out it seems we would have had to take the engine compleatly apart to fix the shaft. Anyway, here's my point/advise: Even if compression & all else looks good and it runs strong - any engine can break in a major way. And older engines are more likely to break with major problems. ~ As for the rebuild: as another poster said, you don't really know what was rebuilt. Even if they repaired everything else, some one major part (like the shaft in my engine) could still go. Another way to consider this: Say something major DID break. Something big enough that the cost to repair was not worth it. Then what would the boat be worth? Good luck. |
#5
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If the drive shaft broke all you had to do was drop the lower-unit Gary, easy fix. Next time ask me 1st. Now on the the older 115. With the exception of perhaps the 44ci four, that inline six was the motor that made Mercury the name it is today. If it was correctly rebuilt / re-ringed I'd not be afraid of it **at all**. That year has a CDI ignition with a distributor. Check the wireing (particularly the three coming out of the distributor body) for signs of dry-rot (common but not insurmountable problem). Ask to water test the boat with the owner, if it's been sitting and needs a carb cleaning - that will show up in the water more so than on the muffs. When you get it, verify the max advance on the timing is 21 degrees (not more) - and use mid-grade gas. The main problem with the old inlines is finding a competant mechanic to service it that won't gouge you. If you plan on working on it yourself, get the manual and become one with it. If you live within 100 miles of the SC / GA border on I-85, you're safe - I can service it. If you ever need parts for it - talk to me 1st - I have the largest inventory of used Tower of Power parts that I know of anywhere. -W "Gary Warner" wrote in message ... "Sailman" wrote in message om... I am considering buying a boat with an old (c. 1975) 115hp Mercury outboard. According to the seller, it was rebuilt about 300 hours ago and runs great. Assuming the basic checks came back fine (compression, lower unit oil, etc.) and that it was rebuilt by a reputable place, is an old but recently rebuilt outboard a good idea? Put another way, is a 300 hour rebuilt engine comparable to any other 300 hour rebuilt engine, or does the old age add significant negative issues? Also, any guess as to the value of such an outboard? Finally, is there some natural limit to the numbe of times you can do a major rebuild on an outboard? I once bought a boat with a 115 Merc attached, I think it was about a 1984 engine. The engine ran fine my first season. When I put her in the water on the second season it worked for 10 minutes then the shaft running from the engine to the prop broke. From everything I could find out it seems we would have had to take the engine compleatly apart to fix the shaft. Anyway, here's my point/advise: Even if compression & all else looks good and it runs strong - any engine can break in a major way. And older engines are more likely to break with major problems. ~ As for the rebuild: as another poster said, you don't really know what was rebuilt. Even if they repaired everything else, some one major part (like the shaft in my engine) could still go. Another way to consider this: Say something major DID break. Something big enough that the cost to repair was not worth it. Then what would the boat be worth? Good luck. |
#6
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On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 18:39:02 GMT, "Clams Canino"
wrote: If you plan on working on it yourself, get the manual and become one with it. That's true of anything of vintage. Good advice. OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMM.......... All the best, Tom -------------- "What the hell's the deal with this newsgroup... is there a computer terminal in the day room of some looney bin somewhere?" Bilgeman - circa 2004 |
#7
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