Merc 700...Calling Farley, Dave, Ryan...

[seabob4]

My fangs are out....When are we going to make the 700 sing Mr.Bob?

Farley, have been a bit busy as of late...but will be getting to her SHORTLY!!!  Cool your jets!  Actually, the way she turned over on just a regular old lead acid, fully charged batt was super encouraging, almost like she way saying, "Give me some gas, and I will run like a top!!!"

What do you think of my idea on putting heli-coils in the plug holes in regards to keeping shavings out of the cylinder bores?  Bring the pistons down, poke and spread out a rag/paper toweling in on top of the piston, bring the piston back up a bit, drill, vacuum, tap, vacuum, install heli-coil...be done with it?  All 6 cylinders, hey, need to do 2, why not all 6?

[fitz73222]

Glad you asked; roll the engine to within 3/8" +/- of TDC (past the ports). Fill the cylinder with shaving cream. Drill, tap, install Heli-coil, bring to TDC, vacuum shavings suspended in shaving cream; done. I would just do the two that need it. Validate the others with torque to 20 ft # with a new plug. If it holds torque, don't fix it if it ain't..... What else you got?

[dburr]

The key would be Bob do you NEED to do all 6? If the block threads are in good shape then I would be tempted to leave it alone.  I have had good luck with helicoils but always have been under the impression that cut threads are stronger.  Not that you're gonna reef on the plugs, but if you are short on time.....?

[dburr]

Sorry Farley, didn't check before I hit submit..

GREAT tip on the shaving cream, that is damn near genious!

[seabob4]

I have shave cream!  Yes guys, will verify plug torque on remaining cylinder heads, then proceed from there.  Actually should get started on her this Sunday (in between football), gonna pull the lower, see what we have down there...

Looking SOOOOO forward to putting in the new plugs, putting some fuel to her, and see what happens...

[fitz73222]

I have shave cream!  Yes guys, will verify plug torque on remaining cylinder heads, then proceed from there.  Actually should get started on her this Sunday (in between football), gonna pull the lower, see what we have down there...

Looking SOOOOO forward to putting in the new plugs, putting some fuel to her, and see what happens...

Bob,
Have you done a spark check on her to see if she has any fire? At a minimum, you are going to need to clean the points in the distributor. This is where it will get interesting! You're going to need to pull the flywheel to install a new drive belt and make sure you have the correct timing alignment marks oriented between the flywheel and distributor pulley or she won't fire. Your engine has a unique firing order with each of the two coils firing 3 cylinders each through one of two ballast resistors. I've started to read about how this ignition system works on the 700 and all I can say is holy ! At least its not a DR thank god where she would also need to run backwards! It's easy to understand why these engines were hated by the average tinkerer cause besides changing spark plugs it was going to the dealer for anything else.

[seabob4]

Farley, obviously I will have to do a little bit more than just throw a new set of plugs and gas in her...but I'll probably give it a whirl anyway once I replace the fuel hoses.  Just for chits and giggles, y'know...

[seabob4]

Kind of a lazy day being New Years, but decided to drop the LU today.  On a motor this old, and no one has any clue as to it's maintainence, you love to see this as you're loosening the bolts...she starts dropping by herself...



Came out smooth as silk, the drive shaft is in EXCELLENT condition, not a speck of rust, the WP housing looks pretty new, I'll take the pump apart tomorrow and inspect the wear plates, if they are good, may just go with a new impeller...



And yes, I did break off part of the cav plate, still have the 2 pieces, gonna try JB weld first, if that doesn't hole, I have a friend that does aluminum welding...on castings...

Have to admit, one of the easiest lower removals I've ever done...  

[wingtime]

Bob Don't fret over the cav plate.  My buddy that works at Pipe welders can weld that up like new in no time.  If you want it welded up just drop it on by next time you head south.

[seabob4]

I was pleased as punch Bruce, and thanks for the offer, but my neighbor behind me, his best buddy (who I know pretty well) can do the welding.

I was incredibly surprised at how well the insides of the lower look.  No little creatures had made their way in through the pickups to take up residence, the drive shaft, I swear, looks brand new!  I'll probably change out the whole pump, rather than just the impeller, but it almost looks like someone did LU servicing way back when...and then just put the boat away...

Be curious (even though it's getting replaced) what the gear oil looks like...

[seabob4]

So now she is hanging in the shop from a chain fall...



Searched the web for her weight, figured without the foot, she was around 180 lbs.  Figured I could handle that, so up over the transom she went, down into my dump cart, over to the shop door, and the chain fall did the rest.  Removed the 2 coils, pulled the starter motor to allow nice access to the carbs, and disconnected and pulled out the old harness on the engine.  She'll definitely need some parts...

[fitz73222]

She's beggin for an engine stand. For my larger engines, I converted my automotive engine block stand to an outboard stand that you can roll around to work on them or roll them outside to fire them up. I mounted a Bobs jack plate I had in stock to the stand to give enough clearance for up to 25" engines and with a 5" setback I can tilt them all the way up without fear of the stand tipping over, basically a poor mans Bob Kerr engine stand. It works great. If you go this route, don't get a 3 legged stand, they can tip over. Harbor Freight sells the 4 legged stand cheap.

[seabob4]

Actually Farley, what I'm gonna get is the 1-ton foldable shop crane......http://www.harborfreight.com/1-ton-capa ... -8866.html, and put some bigger wheels on it.  Yank and hang motors all day long with that thing...

In the meantime, I'm just gonna build a wood engine stand this weekend for the Merc...

[fitz73222]

Cool... I looked at one of those the last time I was at Harbor Freight over here. Not a bad looking hoist. I bought mine from Pep Boys many years ago and can't imagine life without one.

[seabob4]

Farley, I imagine you are familiar with the "powerhead harness" on those old Merc's, everything, including the batt cables, terminate to that square 6-pin connector socket on the lower pan, starboard side...I don't like that.  I'm gonna run 4GA strait to the ground stud and the start solenoid, so I'm gonna gut that connector, make my own harness (only 4 small wires besides the batt cables!), then seal the connector.  Good idea, but not too many 8GA sockets and pins readily available...and I'm sure boats.net wants a pretty penny for that harness...