In 1957 Mercury decided to run a 25,000 mile endurance test with it's 60hp Mark 75 inline 6's to prove OMC (Evinrude, Johnson & Gale) wrong in their claims that Mercury's were "fast but won't last", they susequently extended the test to 50,000 miles. This is a nice 20min film produced by the Kiekhaeafer Corp. - but don't believe all they say about engines being sealed & not touched for 50k miles! The Mercury guys worked out how to remove & refit the seals whilst Carl (Kiekhaeafer) took the USAC guys out for dinner (according to 'Iron Fist', Carls biography)! They also don't mention that one driver was killed when he fell asleep at the helm & the boat crashed into the trees. Still a very impressive result though.
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
Nice bit of Mercury history
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Alacrity
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Nice bit of Mercury history
Mercs are like women, no 2 are exactly alike. That's what testing is about. In general it is safer to test motors and props than women!
Re: Nice bit of Mercury history
Very good,I enjoyed that, And want one of those engines 
SEAN-NÓS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd6vkPjEy4U
Crackerbox build http://player.vimeo.com/video/87412648
The launch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfNjkhMRt40
Crackerbox build http://player.vimeo.com/video/87412648
The launch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfNjkhMRt40
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Alacrity
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Re: Nice bit of Mercury history
Are you sure?? They were 'direct reversing' with 'silent neutral' - commonly known as 'dockbusters' 
. They didn't have a shifting gearbox on them, you started them in gear, so the 'silent neutral' was engine turned off. To go astern you stopped the engine, selected astern on the lever, then started the engine again - only this time the engine started backwards giving you astern! 
Can you guess why they were known as dockbusters?? 
One of the few times Carl got it wrong, he was normally spot on with what the public wanted - they didn't want that though & they ended up with a conventional shifting gearbox. The shifting box as we know it was invented by OMC & Carl didn't like useing something they had invented.
Still want one? You will have to go some to find one this side of the Atlantic, never seen one here, not that uncommon in the US though.
. They didn't have a shifting gearbox on them, you started them in gear, so the 'silent neutral' was engine turned off. To go astern you stopped the engine, selected astern on the lever, then started the engine again - only this time the engine started backwards giving you astern! Can you guess why they were known as dockbusters?? One of the few times Carl got it wrong, he was normally spot on with what the public wanted - they didn't want that though & they ended up with a conventional shifting gearbox. The shifting box as we know it was invented by OMC & Carl didn't like useing something they had invented.
Still want one? You will have to go some to find one this side of the Atlantic, never seen one here, not that uncommon in the US though.
Mercs are like women, no 2 are exactly alike. That's what testing is about. In general it is safer to test motors and props than women!
Re: Nice bit of Mercury history
I have all the chrome cowling and face plate for one just waiting on the right inline six to come along, cheating a bit I know but I just love the look of them.They should remake some of the old mercs as a special edition I am sure they would sell. 
SEAN-NÓS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd6vkPjEy4U
Crackerbox build http://player.vimeo.com/video/87412648
The launch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfNjkhMRt40
Crackerbox build http://player.vimeo.com/video/87412648
The launch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfNjkhMRt40
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Alacrity
- Site Admin
- Posts: 2193
- Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 2:07 pm
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Re: Nice bit of Mercury history
I quite agree, but which models to pick?They should remake some of the old mercs as a special edition I am sure they would sell.
There are so many great models, this one is outstanding of course being the very first IL6 
, but there are others that are equally worthy.Mercs are like women, no 2 are exactly alike. That's what testing is about. In general it is safer to test motors and props than women!