New stuff and things

6/17: Ok, long time between updates. It's been raining so much lately, I haven't gotten much done. I fixed the split seam in the Trojan, but haven't been able to take it out for a test run yet. I picked up another old Kiekhaefer cast iron motor stand, but this one had the emblem filled in with some kind of epoxy (the guy I got it from is an OMC dealer and figured the Merc logo wasn't good for business). I got all the epoxy out and need to paint it now.
          I picked up a few more motors (I haven't added them to the Motors In The Works section, no pics yet) and some parts. I got another Merc 400 that runs great, and another '58 Mk55 (non electric) that has great compression, but no spark. I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, so they go on the "someday" rack.
         I did some more work on the Jaws boat (check the Jaws Boat Resto page), but the rain is really slowing things down. I've been thinking of thinning out the motor collection a bit. I might get rid of a few of the smaller motors and concentrate more on the Mk series Mercurys, mainly 30 hp. +. The problem is that I really like all the motors I have, guess I'll have to make some sacrifices. I'd be happy if I could trade some of what I have now for stuff I'm looking for. I have a pile of 60's Merc parts that I'll never need that can go and I've decided to take the Mk75 power head out of the Merc 700. I'm starting to collect '57 Mk75 parts to make a complete motor. I may also unload everything newer than '59, but I'm not sure about the Merc 400's, they may still end up on the Jaws boat permanently.
        I finally worked out the wiring problem with the '57 Mk55E on the Trojan. I'm not really sure what fixed it, but the ele. start works fine now. I have been pull starting it for a while because I got frustrated trying to find out why the starter wouldn't work. I decided to mess with it yesterday, so I put the starter (freshly rebuilt) and a solenoid that I know is good back on the motor and prayed. Everything works fine, but I still don't know what was wrong before. I probably had a bad contact that I missed, maybe the other starters were just ready to die,  or something simple like that. Either way, I'll take it.
       I'm getting the Trojan ready for my 1st AOMCI meet next weekend in RI.! It's being hosted by Dan Tannehill of the Yankee Chapter. I was going to repaint the floor, but I may not get to that. I touched up some scuff marks here-n-there in the bottom paint and on the motor, but I figure, it's a user boat, not a show boat. I wish I had the new windshield on it, but I haven't gotten one yet. I'm taking her out tomorrow morning for some quality fishing with my better half. It'll be the 1st time in the water since I fixed the leak, so I'll find out if it's the only one. I also wanted to get the decals for the motor before the meet, but that's not going to happen.
      I've been thinking of starting a "Viewer Submitted" (or something like that) section on my site. If anyone is interested in seeing their boats/motors here, let me know. If there is enough interest, I'll do it.
      I also put a direct link to the Jaws Boat page on the home page.
      I believe that's all for now, Happy Boating!!

6/25: The Trojan is holding water again, and we had a great day fishing! The catch of the day was a 18", 4lb. largemouth. Someone recently told me that the lake was no good for fishing anymore. I told him he just didn't know where to fish! I grew up on this lake, and know every inch of it. We caught fish consistently all day, bass (largemouth and smallmouth), crappie (there's some BIG crappie in the lake), yellow and white perch. Ok, enough with the fishing stories.
         My 1st AOMCI meet was a great time! I was a bit nervous about being the "new guy" (and being younger than anyone else there), but I was made to feel welcome by everyone I talked to. I met some great people and saw some nice old motors (running, the way it should be, not on display). There were also a couple of other wooden boats there, a Hi-Liner running a Merc 300, and my friend Chris with his Barbour. I saw an Elto Quad run (1st time I've seen one in the water) and it was unreal. That's one non-Merc motor I wouldn't mind having. I've got the whole thing on video, and some day I'll get an a/v card for the computer so I can put the pics here. Many thanks to Dan, and everyone from the AOMCI Yankee Chapter for making if a great day. I'm sure that I've said it before, but if you're into the old motors, or want to get into them, check out the AOMCI web site, they're a great bunch of guys.
         Nothing new on the motor or boat projects, I've been sick and haven't gotten anything done.

7/7: Where to start? I picked a few new motors last week, a '59 Mk78A, a '48 KE4 and a Mk7. I'm still trying to track down the year on the Mk7, it's got an oddball serial number on it. My book says that the Mk7's started with ser. #557618, but mine is # 533767. It's definitely a Mk7, I thought maybe it was a leftover KE4 that they put a new # tag on. It's got the Mk7 style exhaust and the larger transom clamp. I've contacted a few "people in the know", hopefully I'll be able to identify the origin of the ser. #.
   None of the 3 new motors runs. The Mk7 is missing the whole magneto assembly and the coils on the KE4 are shot. The KE4 also has very little compression on one cylinder, I'm hoping to put it together with my other one and make a good motor. The Mk78A is seized, but everything is there. I was hoping I would be able to free up the power head and save it from the scrap yard, but no such luck. I pulled the intake covers off and the pistons looked fine, but the exhaust cover revealed a horrible sight. Most of the aluminum under the cover was so corroded that some sections could be pulled off with my fingers. The pistons are pretty much a part of the cylinders now. I pulled off everything that was good (carbs/magneto/etc) and the rest goes in the scrap pile. I took the '57 Mk75 power head off the Merc 700 and when I get the gaskets I ordered, the motor will go on the Jaws boat. I also had one heluva time getting the prop off the shaft! Someone put a steel washer behind the tab washer that holds the prop nut on. It rusted and pretty much welded the prop on. I tried soaking it in penetrating oil, drilling between the splines on the shaft, and finally beating on the prop with hammer (I hated to do that, but it wasn't a very good prop anyway and I have 2 more). It wouldn't budge! Next in line was a sawsall and a grinder (YIKES!). 4 hours later, I had the prop off and the shaft still in great condition! A little filing and some elbow grease and the new prop slides right on.
   I also got bored one day, so I decided to play around with the 2 seized Scott Atwaters. I got them both freed up, but the 5 hp. has no spark. The 10hp. Bail-o-Matic has spark, but I don't have a fuel fitting for the S/A's. I'll rig something up to work until I can find one. They both have great compression and are very clean motors. I'll keep the 10hp., but I think the 5hp. is going to go. I had no room left 5 motors ago!
   I didn't get any farther on the Jaws boat resto, I just haven't been into it lately. I'm getting married in 3 months and there's still lots to do there, so I haven't been able to concentrate much time on motors/boats. We also got a new puppy, takes up a good chunk of time. As I'm writing this, I've got our dog, the new puppy, and our friends' 2 dogs (one of them is also a puppy) while they are away. Pretty chaotic!
  I'm working on getting more pics up on the site, hopefully soon with a big update.

7/21: Long time since updates, I'm still working on the new pics. I added some new motors to the "Motors in the Works" page, some of which I already mentioned here. I still haven't done anything new on the Jaws Boat, I just can't seem to get into that project lately. Other than the new motors, there's not much going on. Getting ready for the wedding, taking care of the new puppy, work, work, work, spen a little time on the motors, then start over again. I'll try to get the new pics up soon.
       Just a note here, John Kwast has shut down his outstanding Merc web site. I don't know him personally, but have spent hours drooling over the motor pics and devouring the tech info on his pages. Not to take away from anyone else with great sites, there's lots of them, John's will be missed as a regular stop for me. Just wanted to say thanks to him for putting up a great site.

8/6: I got the hardware to load pics and video clips onto the PC from my camcorder! I've got the stills figured out, but I'm having problems getting the mpg's loaded on the site (ARRRGGGGHH!). There's a few new pics in the MIW section, and some mpg's in the new "Video Clips" section
  New motors! I picked up another '59 Mk78A, '57 Mk75 and a set of controls for them (it's about time!). The original idea was to put the 2 78A's together and make one good, then put the 75 power head that I had in the 1st Mk78A in the new Mk75 (it was siezed). I decided to tear into the new Mk75, yipee, the p/h can be saved! It needs to be rebuilt, but it's the original, so I'll probably make this a complete resto, in and out. This means that the other Mk75 p/h will stay in the one Mk78A for now and I'll get the new one up and running. One of the Merc 400's is leaving (part of the dockbuster deal), and the Mk35A is going to turn into a short shaft motor.
  I also attended the big ACBS auction/ show in Clayton over the weekend. There were some very nice boats again this year, but not much in the way of good parts or motors that I went looking for. I didn't get there until Saturday, so I probably missed out on all the good stuff. I came home empty handed despite a long list of parts I went looking for.
   I attended a speech/q&a session hosted by Peter Hunn (author of "The Old Outboard Book", and a new book on the old outboard racers) that was informative. The session introduced the new "Outboard" display at the museum which is looking great, but still under construction.
   I've got lots more pics and clips to add when I get them all sorted out. I'll do a more complete update when I get the mpg situation figured out. Thanks for stopping by!

8/11: Not much going on here, lots of rain ruining the whole boating experiance. I added a new page for the Trojan resto pics. There's some up now, but the rest are still on video. I'm working on updating the links page also. I added some "as found" pics of the '57 Mk55E too, in the "My Motors" section. Loads of pics and clips still to come. And maybe a complete overhaul of the site now that I'm getting used to this. I'm really looking forward to the antique boat races in Clayton, NY next weekend. There will be plenty of pics from that one!

8/26: Busy, Busy! Had a great day at the Antique Raceboat Regatta in Clayton, Ny on the 19th. It was a bit too windy for serious WOT running, but a few of the guys were tearing it up (there was one guy in a runabout with a "cornpopper" Mk20H conversion that was getting all he could in the chop!) Lots, LOTS, of nice Mercs around the display and pit areas. There were an incredible number of PREMO resto'd racers, and a bunch of the oldies that looked like they still see the water on a regular basis (I was happy to see that!)
  Alan Woodard displayed his COMPLETELY original, NEVER SEEN THE WATER (!!!) Mk75H along with a very nice '59 Mk55H. As much as I like to see the old motors being used, I'd have to agree with keeping his Mk75H as a "display only" piece.
  I picked up some parts there also. A complete KE4 power head (Thanks Al!) that runs like a bear, was supposed to complete one of my KE4 projects. I got it home, bolted it to the '52 KE4 leg and away it went. Then I started thinking, "Hmmmmm, this power head has 2 good Scintilla coils in it...", so off came the coils. They were donated to the KG7 project, which runs great now (still need a low idle screw, it won't run below 2/3 throttle).
 Also on the KG7 project, I believe I've found a quicky tower and foot for this motor! I'm still working on the deal, but I should have my 1st racer Merc soon.
 This brings me to the hydro! I started work on a 10' hydro a few days ago. I've had the plans around since last Christmas, but didn't have any running motors for the rig. They're a set of Glen-L plans that are really too big for the KG7, but will be a good "training wheels" boat. I'll start posting "progress pics" in the Boat Projects section soon.
 I'm still working on getting all the new pics off the camcorder and onto the site. Lots of new material from the 2 Clayton meets and more of the older stuff will be up at some point.