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1965 150 hp Mercruiser

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Curtorous

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I am going to be rebuilding a 1965 Mercruiser 150HP engine. any help will be greatly appreciated. Also, keep tabs on this post as I will post photos and details of the process. Happy boating.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

WHY??????????

TOO many parts NLA or to hard to find.

maybe not the motor but all else..........
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

The intake and exhaust manifold are all in one peice on this particular engine makes for some quick work of gasket making. The valves, rocker arms and push rods were in great shape for a 45 year old engine. Although i imagine that someone at some point had replaced them. when the head came off my worst fears came to reality. the cylinder walls in the #2,3,4 have rust on them. Therefore the head will go to the machinest and be bored over and sleeved. Rust in the intake ports on the head washed out easily with carburator cleaner. The Carburator is a Rochester 2gc.
 
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Re: 1965 Mercruiser

I am currently having troubles downloading pics of this first day off my camera they will be up in a day or two.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

kghost said:
WHY??????????

TOO many parts NLA or to hard to find.

maybe not the motor but all else..........
Click to expand...


Cheap boat and a hankering for some engine work. i dont have a lot of experiene with the Out drive but I am sure i can figure it out. and i have already found all the parts that i can imagine needing. besides this old inline six is going to RUMBLE!

PS i enjoy all facets of taking something broken and fixing it. including hunting down that one pin that exists only in a day dream.
 
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Re: 1965 Mercruiser

First attept at removing the out drive was for nothing. of course the drive shaft is stuck and the engine block hasnt come out yet. the book says to drive the retaining nut off with a punch. my question is does it thread on backwards? seems like it would to me but not sure also. is this even really possible? what kind of punch should i use? dont want to damage anything.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

hte block is cleaned off and the oil pan is off. the starter and alternator are set the water pump is goping to need a good soak in CLR. the wiring is mucked up and will need to be completely redone. fun fun. cant wait to finish the tear down and start the build.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

Curtorous,
We recently finished a 20 month rebuild on a 1967 17' runabout with a 4cyl 120hp. The OD is a '66 and the motor is a '65. If you are referring to the retainer nut for the upper gear house bearings mine was standard thread. It says to take a punch to it but if the OD has not been maintained regularly then that will not work. I bought the special tool for the retainer nut, put an 18" wrench on, added a 3ft cheater bar, clamped it down and then stood on it. It still didnt move. What I was looking at was a $15 retainer nut versus a $700 casing. I found a replacement nut and cut the old one. I was then able to chisel the old nut without damaging the case.
My 2cw, if the water pump is 4+ years old, find a marine replacement. You have it apart, now would be a good time to replace it.
On your valve head, ask the machinest if the seats have been upgraded to to hardened seats. I know the '65 4cyl didnt have them but not sure on the 6cyl.
On another note. It was suggested to me on this site to not spend time on 40 year old wiring. If your wire harness will not ohm out within spec and I image it wont, then replace it. I spent too many hours with the old harness before I replaced mine.

I understand and share the love of making old things new again. Check out this url for some pics of our project.
http://s621.photobucket.com/albums/tt297/TxGalzDah/Texas%20Gal/
Only down side to our project is it takes so long to launch. There are always admires that want just a few minutes to ask about her.
Good luck on your project.
TxGalz Dah
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

txgalzdah, what an amazing boat. thanks for the tip on the nut i was pretty sure it would not be coming off easily. Are you refering to the water pump on the engine or the out drive. the water pump in the lower gear housing of the outdrive is the cleanest part on the boat. but the one at the engine is full of rust and sludge. it still moves just gross looking inside.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

The drive shaft is totally stuck. I think in the bell housing. I can see the u joints and they move but the upper housing will not seperate. How do I get this out with out breaking the housing.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

The drive shaft is totally stuck. I think in the bell housing. I can see the u joints and they move but the upper housing will not seperate. How do I get this out with out breaking the housing.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

no in the coupler you might have to saw the shaft in half to get the drive off.

Lets see what doing with the motor when you finally get it out.

The nut if you read the manual states that if you can't use a punch to get it to turn is to drill the nut at a thin point in 3 places, at a angle and away from the threads.

Be careful, when drilled and removed then it's time for a puller.

The book also talks about making a puller if need be.

Bt has posted many pics of pullers home made.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

The nut came loose but does not have clearnce to come totally off. The engine is out and nothing I do gets the drive from seperating from the bell housing.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

the upper's shaft could also be hung up in the gimabl bearing. better figure out where it is hung up first.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

I'll check. how do I break it loose? For both situations. Standing on it/ jumping on it got me nowhere. It seems loose in the gimbal bearing. And the ujoints move in all directions.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

THE COUPLER IS HOLDING IT. It's a byatch seen trucks hooked up to drives. Finally they cut the shaft in half.

This ain't gonna be easy.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

chiefalen said:
THE COUPLER IS HOLDING IT. It's a byatch seen trucks hooked up to drives. Finally they cut the shaft in half.

This ain't gonna be easy.
Click to expand...


I am confused abou what you are referring to as the coupler. give me a description of where to cut the drive shaft. maybe wich yoke to ruin. and an idea of where to get a cutter in.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

Curtorous,
When doing the disassembly on my 1967 Mur-Tex I had the same issue you are having witht the outdrive not wanting to come free.
We had two problems. First the drive shaft spline was frozen to the coupler. In the auto world the splined drive shaft fits up with the splined center of the pressure plate. In Merc world there is a large dounut shaped house with a splined center. It bolts to the fly wheel. We had to use block and tackle on a home made frame that was clamped to what was left of the stringers. Then with large pry bars we were able to release the drive shaft from the engine coupler. In a word we forced the block off the drive shaft. Keep in mind things in the flywheel/transom plate area are aluminum. Use scrap wood to protect. After pulling the engine we could see how bad the drive shaft spline was corroded in the coupler spline.
Secondly, the drive shaft was rusted to the gimbal bearing. We slung the outdrive with a small come-a-long so it would not pop out on the ground. Then we took wood block, large maul and some heat and drove the shaft out of the bearing. Once it came free the outdrive came off.
Keep in mind this vessel was used, abused and left to sit for 16 years. It had plenty of time to go this far south. This is my 2cw. Hope it helps out.
Regards,
TxGalz Dah
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

Thank you texgalz dah. I was confused about the coupler as I had already removed the engine sometime ago. The drive shaft is more than clear of the coupler. In fact this connection was very clean and only took a whach with a rubber mallet to break loose. I now can see that the shaft is stuck in the gimbal bearing. Which I discovered by taking the entire transom assembly off. I will be reattaching the gibal housing to drive the drive shaft out with a maul.

Ps I really like using a sledge hammer, espeacially when the wife starts in about the junk boat in our yard.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

The drive shaft came loose from the gimbal. But, with the gimbal bearing still stuck to it. At least now a puller will get the bearing off. The upper gear housing is now disassembled and I will be renovating the hull. The floor is good but the supports will need to be replaced.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

Yo resist the urge to use the sledge on da wifey. Can't tell you how many times i was standing in the boat in my driveway hotter then a mother, sweat dripping off me, and shes screeching at me, about the boat.

Yours say yet you spend more time on top of the boat then on top of her ?
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

Found an offer i couldnt refuse on a new outdrive. I found it for sale on craigslist. It was rebuilt about three years ago. $600. the boat it is attached to is crap and the engine is cracked, but i have my old engine coming from the machinest next week.
 
Re: 1965 Mercruiser

I am going to need as much help with the hull as possible. Any starting suggestions. thanks guyjg for the rotdoctor link.
 
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