Repowering my 170

[Redfish Ron]

The motor was not included in my boat, but it was toast, anyway- a 70 hp Johnson VRO outboard - I am looking for a good 2 stroke motor- and up here folks are very proud of what I see as mostly junk motors- asking unbelievable high prices for 30 year old motors. I have looked at Mercury and OMC motors in the 70-115 hp...I thought I had a 115 Evenrude motor for $1500 only to find it didn't have power tilt and trim-  

My question is about the 70-90 hp Mercury motors- there are a few 4 cylinder motors in the 80-85 hp range for sale that say the compression is excellent in all cylinders and run great- looking at the year models and available parts is what is holding me back- are the four cylinder older Mercs worth messing with or should I only consider the three cylinder Mercs? The asking price for these older Mercs is right at a grand- should I keep looking or buy?

[floridamisser52]

I've got a 175 with a 1998 90 hp crossflow on it. With no vro so I have to mix my gas. ( probably easier than refilling a vro tank) If you ended up finding a vro I'd take it off.
Finding one with an hour meter to verify hours would be nice along with it being a fresh water motor would be a bonus too. Seeing the compression test yourself could be an eye opener. Demand to hear it run and hopefully it's just not laid on the ground. That would say something about the owner and try to have it professionally installed and get a 30 day warranty if you can. So buy that older motor and make her feel young! :pirat:

[Redfish Ron]

After taking a hard look at the motors, I passed- glad I did- Labor Day I saw an ad in Craig's List for a 75 hp Yahama 1998 motor- I was the first caller and after going over and seeing the motor, watch it start, run, shift, checked the amps the alternator put out I paid cash money and loaded it in my pickup truck and headed home- motor is a one owner fresh water engine with an estimated 500 hours on it- brand new water pump, seals, lower unit lube, etc. It purrs like a kitten, shifts smoothly, the tilt and trim works flawlessly and the motor looks like new- a c note under 2K and I took it home-

The motor comes with controls and a 15 pitch stainless prop- the Yamaha controls are side mount- can I adapt the factory Aquasport Binnacle controls using the Yamaha side mount parts or do I need to buy new Yamaha controls?

I have been told that the Yamaha 75 is essentially just a de-tuned 90 Hp motor- if that is so this engine should be plenty of motor for the boat.