Ready for paint and decals

[Rapier]

LH motor is a 1960 Mercury 300 Manual, is 39.6 cu. in. 4-cylinder producing ca. 40hp. RH motor is a 1960/61 400 Electric, with a cubic capacity of 44 cu.in and produces ca. 45hp. The 44 cu.in block was very successful; appearing as the Mk 58 of 1958 and becoming the 500 in 1961 and remaining on the 500s for almost 30 years.

These are not trailer queen restorations - they'll be usable enough that if they do get bashed about I will not weep too much. The 400 was painted black (badly) before I started the job in Nov 08...blood (a scalpel through my thumb), sweat and tears got it to the stage it's at. Interestingly enough it looks like Mercury used a light anodising on the bare ali on these early motors, perhaps this is why they never appear as crusty as OMCs of similar age.

Neither of these is particularly rare or desirable, they have a grease filled gearcase and at this age can suffer from lower unit and drive shaft sealing problems, so if you are offered an unrestored runner in good condition expect to pay up to £200-£300 pounds, they are not £1000 motors....If the exhange rate is good to the USD they can be had for very little and shipped for a lot less. Expect to replace top and bottom crank seals, fuel pump diaphram and carb kit / clean etc. If they are running properly they should start on a few pulls when cold and everytime when warm, so e-start is a luxury, not a necessity.

[Alacrity]

Well done. Looking good, when do they get painted?

Still want to be there & hear the 400 fire up for the first time in years.

[Healey75]

A man of patience...well done, I stripped my engine with loadsa Nitromores and a pressure washer, even then a lot of the original Merc paint needed a second go and lots of scraping/wire wool etc...not something I enjoyed.

[Rapier]

Hopefully I'll be able to get a decent match on the cloud white from the local paint factors within a day or so...then is a case of finding a slot with the man who'll be doing the spraying (not my forte, and I still can't reconcile 5 mins of spraying with 20mins prep and 20mins to clean the gun post event).

All I can say is I won't be doing it again....or will I, as this little 350 is a possible Hum Bug motor

[Healey75]

Have a look at RAL1015 Light Ivory,the paint shop should have a mix for this...That 35 hp engine will be shall we say interesting on Hum Bug...if we are to run the boats round the buoys then don't forget to have a 20cu in motor as well..22hp should give around 35mph... stock 35hp I would guess give something over 40 but the weight may make itself felt swinging about...take Colliwobble out at Chertsey and see if you can get full throttle for a lap of the lake...without moving your own weight around the boat for trimming...

[Rapier]

Ended up with an off white that was a better match - RAL 1015 was just too yellow compared to my sample (from under the badge of the face plate, so had never seen the sun...); remains to be seen how it turns out. The block of the 300 is roughly 1015 though..I think the formula changed for 1962 anyway?

As an aside, the chap did a check on Clould White and pulled up the marine version, but not 2K..and in aerosols too. Having set my mind on 2 pack I stuck with it.

I have etch primer in aerosol called PXL, which I'll apply this weekend. Any tips for a spot filler?

Tried like hell to unsettle HumBug at Cardiff 07, with the '64 200 getting about 35 flat out and the leg still well buried, but to no avail...With it's mods HumBug is a bit too much of a civilised cruiser in comparison to Colliwobble! The '64-65 350 is only 30 cu.in. and a bit lighter than the '66 version (33 cu.in) that Chris runs on Thunderbolt, so suspect will see speeds slightly less than hes getting (which is?).

[Healey75]

Re spot filler, use polyester car body filler such as P38 or plastic padding, if you have epoxy I guess that would be be best...the polyester stuff is more likley to soak up moisture but seems fine for the length of time our engines are afloat, I have tried both and to be honest have not had any problems (so far) with either, main thing is to make sure it goes on to a well prepared dust and oil free surface

[Rapier]

Thanks for that, got ensnared by TV and forgot to ask the pertinent questions...By epoxy filler, could I use conventional liquid stuff thickened with colloidal silica? Or is there something special I can get?

Also, what can I use to clean / degrease without damaging the remnants of paint and acid etch-primer?

[Healey75]

I used thickened epoxy as you suggest...it can take a while to cure ready to sand whereas with the polyester filler you can sand it after 20mins or so, re degreasing I give it a quick wipe with acetone which will dissolve the paint/primer left on the leg if you are heavy handed, but a quick wipe will be fine, turning the rag to get a fresh face regularly. Don't forget if you have any spots where the raw aluminium shows it will have to be patch primed with etch primer. check for overcoating times for each layer, I think I left to much time between primer and top coat so may have to redo the bits in the water...we shall find out in due course!

[Rapier]

:thanks: , looked at the 300 and decided that my strip job was not good enough and spent most of the day taking it down further. Then primed using the puffer cans - amazing how primer shows up all the imperfections...I'll redo the most obvious, but after 48 years there are just too many nicks and scrapes (and a really crusty skeg on the 400). Will be patina! Nice day to spray too; warm and little wind...

Not sure how to do the face plate as it has sunken ridges that are black, so the option is to spray white and touch up by brush (with a steady hand) or find black trim tape of 1mm or so and lay that in the ridges. Any ideas?