DevAd
New Member
Hello.
A neighbour has the above sitting in his front porch!
It is, indeed, a completely unused 20hp 2-stroke twin Mercury outboard from 1979 with electric start, and he also has the Mercontrol box (I think that operates the gears and throttle?), electric plug-in cables and a remote fuel tank. It still has the original buyer's name tag tied onto it, and manufacturer's grease on the external fittings. It has been kept in dry storage so has no surface rust or corrosion anywhere - even the spark plugs have unblemished satin black paint on them. To the best of his knowledge it has never, ever been started since bought from new... Attempting to turn the prop shows that the engine is unseized - the compression sounds wonderful, and actually prevents a complete rotation with pressed boot on prop (not very scientific, I know...)
He now wishes to sell this as he has a - preferred - 4-stroke Honda for use on his 17' Shetland; he prefers leisurely cruising over frantic planing.
As a keen classic car enthusiast, it occurred to me that his engine could have value to a similarly-minded classic motor boating enthusiast too; someone who has restored a boat from that era and would like to keep everything as original as possible? Do you think this would be the case, or should he just place it on eBay or his local paper as 'just another' engine?
He'd appreciate any thoughts and advice on this.
Thanks
A neighbour has the above sitting in his front porch!
It is, indeed, a completely unused 20hp 2-stroke twin Mercury outboard from 1979 with electric start, and he also has the Mercontrol box (I think that operates the gears and throttle?), electric plug-in cables and a remote fuel tank. It still has the original buyer's name tag tied onto it, and manufacturer's grease on the external fittings. It has been kept in dry storage so has no surface rust or corrosion anywhere - even the spark plugs have unblemished satin black paint on them. To the best of his knowledge it has never, ever been started since bought from new... Attempting to turn the prop shows that the engine is unseized - the compression sounds wonderful, and actually prevents a complete rotation with pressed boot on prop (not very scientific, I know...)
He now wishes to sell this as he has a - preferred - 4-stroke Honda for use on his 17' Shetland; he prefers leisurely cruising over frantic planing.
As a keen classic car enthusiast, it occurred to me that his engine could have value to a similarly-minded classic motor boating enthusiast too; someone who has restored a boat from that era and would like to keep everything as original as possible? Do you think this would be the case, or should he just place it on eBay or his local paper as 'just another' engine?
He'd appreciate any thoughts and advice on this.
Thanks
