Found my old Mercury 7.5HP Outboard today

[Tremlett 15]

Ref your Q earlier Tremlett, I had the "tower" on a 17 foot day boat, using the much-cloned 17 foot hull used by Mariner/Nab/Pilot/Wilson Flyer. Mine had the proper internal moulding so it was foam filled proper job. I had it custom moulded (2 of them actually) by Midland Mouldings (Geoff Lusty) who later morphed into Minster Composite Industries. Based in Nottingham. They were contract moulders for many of the big names and made all the Relcraft hulls in the 1980s, for example

THANKS jfm for the pics & info....yes the tower looks great, a mate from the midlands ( Ireland ) has just bought a 140hp tower & has put it onto his Avanger 16, we plan to have a meet on Lough Corrib Galway the w/e 9th April, his is a 1979 tower yes the "nice" decals.

If all goes to plan, I will post some pics.

 

[Tremlett 15]

It might have been different years for different models. I do remeber the 4cyl 50 becoming 45 classic, and I can't remember when that was.

Hi jfm, received this via a UK mate from a US Merc dealer, can only assume it is correct ( ish )

the power of the "net" .............

 

[jfm]

Hi jfm, received this via a UK mate from a US Merc dealer, can only assume it is correct ( ish )

the power of the "net" .............

Hmm, thanks Tremlett. Well, I dunno! We had lots of conversations with the dealer about making sure we got a "115" when we bought the 90, and the jet sizes are in the manual and were checked. We most definitely bought it 27/1/81. I might well be wrong and it might have been flywheel rated

I think, but memory sketchy now, mine was a Belgium built engine. Someone above said the serial number implied it was US. I seem to remember "Marine Power Europe" on the plate, and "made in Belgium". But I could be wrong and have owned lots of mercs over the years so I could be mixing up. Serial number was 5777855 for sure - etched indelibly on my brain, as is the number of our first new Merc, a 1974 200 (20hp) 9037331

So i'm wondering if the Belgium motors got propshaft rating before the USA? Remember, in the 1980 model line up there were 90,115 and 140 towers, but in 1981 there was only 90 and 115, so that fits with my theory. Also your document doesn't mention the 140 at all, which is strange and suggests to me it might not be perfectly accurate. You'd expect it to say "140: always crank, and discontinued when propshaft power was introduced". and he says "unsure" on the 90

I dont know if you remember, but at this time there was much marketing noise from Yamaha about their motors being propshaft rated and american motors being flywheel, and that was affecting sales, and Merc needed to react. As Yam was a bigger brand in europe then than the US, maybe the euro part of brunswick changed to propshaft horsepower sooner in order not to lose sales? It wasn't rocket science to switch the decals. But all this is me guessing, I don't know

 

[Tremlett 15]

Hmm, thanks Tremlett. Well, I dunno! We had lots of conversations with the dealer about making sure we got a "115" when we bought the 90, and the jet sizes are in the manual and were checked. We most definitely bought it 27/1/81. I might well be wrong and it might have been flywheel rated

I think, but memory sketchy now, mine was a Belgium built engine. Someone above said the serial number implied it was US. I seem to remember "Marine Power Europe" on the plate, and "made in Belgium". But I could be wrong and have owned lots of mercs over the years so I could be mixing up. Serial number was 5777855 for sure - etched indelibly on my brain, as is the number of our first new Merc, a 1974 200 (20hp) 9037331

So i'm wondering if the Belgium motors got propshaft rating before the USA? Remember, in the 1980 model line up there were 90,115 and 140 towers, but in 1981 there was only 90 and 115, so that fits with my theory. Also your document doesn't mention the 140 at all, which is strange and suggests to me it might not be perfectly accurate. You'd expect it to say "140: always crank, and discontinued when propshaft power was introduced". and he says "unsure" on the 90

I dont know if you remember, but at this time there was much marketing noise from Yamaha about their motors being propshaft rated and american motors being flywheel, and that was affecting sales, and Merc needed to react. As Yam was a bigger brand in europe then than the US, maybe the euro part of brunswick changed to propshaft horsepower sooner in order not to lose sales? It wasn't rocket science to switch the decals. But all this is me guessing, I don't know

Hi jfm, yes its does seem a wee bit odd in places, the Belgium Nos do seem to be 9xxxxxx & then the US include 5xxxxxx, your 20hp 200 is coming up as Belgium 1974 but ur 90hp is on the US lists, maybe some engines came into the IoR via USA back then ???

Like you say the 140 is not listed on the copy pm, from my year lists it would appear the engines had a "double year" serial No. for 1980 & 1981, the 140,115 90, ( 6 cyl ) & 150 V6, 175 V6, 200 V6, 225 V6, 80 4 cyl, 70 3 cyl, 50 4 cyl, 40 2 cyl, 25 2 cyl, 20 2 cyl, 18 2 cyl, 9.8 2 cyl, 7.5 2 cly, 4.5 1 cyl, 4 2 cyl, 3.6 1 cyl, ( I assume that was the full range those two years )

the 140 is only listed in 1979, 1980 & 1981 ( list as 1400 in a few other years )

think we can say that urs was 1981, ( 5594657 > 5996389 = 1980 & 1981 ) although if you got it in 01/81 it may have been 1980 build with 1981 serial No. Our Merc was bought on 12/10/1976 but it has the 1977 serial No. 9136803 ( 1976 started at 9107214 & 1977 started at 9136250 also remember being told that "some" Mercs did have a serial No for the "next" year ( a bit like some cars built in 1976 for 1977 but the model year was 1977 )

well me eyes are a wee bit crossed now......so think I will go and look at me decals to see what tell me about me engine!!!!!!

again, thanks for posting ur pics.

 

[RIN]

Well at the risk of flogging this thread to death, I thought I would point out this website from which I identified my OB and can actually get the part numbers I need, http://www.lmmarine.net/pages/parts/viewbybrand/59/MercuryMarine.aspx You need to select Mercury from the drop down and it seems to give schematics of all outboards

Mine is the 7.5 9217756 AND UP (MERCURY)

There seem to be a lot of 140s there too Tremlett

Anyway now I know the part numbers I can see if I can find them in the uk and cost whether it is worth trying to fix

 

[Tremlett 15]

Well at the risk of flogging this thread to death, I thought I would point out this website from which I identified my OB and can actually get the part numbers I need, http://www.lmmarine.net/pages/parts/viewbybrand/59/MercuryMarine.aspx You need to select Mercury from the drop down and it seems to give schematics of all outboards

Mine is the 7.5 9217756 AND UP (MERCURY)

There seem to be a lot of 140s there too Tremlett

Anyway now I know the part numbers I can see if I can find them in the uk and cost whether it is worth trying to fix

140 6 cly, a mix of USA & Canada builds and I think Australia build, will need to check Nos.
will pm it to my mate that just bought one.

thanks for the link & hope you get the engine sorted.

ps.
if you dont get it sorted let me know & I will see if I can get a contact for you, can you do a link to your required part.

 

[jfm]

Hi jfm, yes its does seem a wee bit odd in places, the Belgium Nos do seem to be 9xxxxxx & then the US include 5xxxxxx, your 20hp 200 is coming up as Belgium 1974 but ur 90hp is on the US lists, maybe some engines came into the IoR via USA back then ???

well me eyes are a wee bit crossed now......so think I will go and look at me decals to see what tell me about me engine!!!!!!

My eyes are crossed too but if I can just beat a bit more out of this thread...

My 90 was bought in UK (RoI had luxury VAT iirc), from Rhyl Marine in N. Wales. £1860, btw

Thanks to RIN's great website link (thanks RIN) you can see on the carb page the main fuel jet list for the 90 tower of power as, 0.074, .072, .070, .068 (STD). Then the 115 is listed as 0.074 (STD), .072, .070, .068.

The main jet and the decals are only diffs between 90 and 115 afaik. Changing the main jets is dead easy, and even now on RIN's website they are only $3.37, so for 10 bucks plus decals you could make a 90 into a 115. There was no ECU remapping in those days!

Now I distinctly remember the dealer (an official merc dealer) telling me the engine would come with "last year's 115 jets", so as to make it a good 90hp at the prop, and that he had checked, etc. So I'm wondering if Euro engines just had the jets swapped, ahead of the US change to propshaft power, to keep up with the Yamaha threat which was a Euro issue not US. It would have been dead easy for the importers (then the outfit in Poole, forgot name) or the Belgian factory to fit the .074inch jets instead of the .068, and cheap as chips

I guess I'll/we'll never know. The boat did go like stink though, and swung a 23" pitch prop to 4600rpm if lightly loaded (21inch if heavy), which feels 115 territory not 90.

As I say perhaps we'll never know. No worries anyway, it was nice to compare notes with you

 

[badgley50]

belgium or canadaian

i recently inherited a 25 hp Mercury. I have been trying to find some information on it but have had no luck as of yet. It has made in Canada on the tag but I was told that it may be a Belgium motor. I have tried looking it up with the s/n number but nothing comes up. The number I have doesn`t correspond with anything I have found on-line. Could someone please straighten me out. Thanks. S/N A713406 (25 hp 20" shaft)

 

[alastair macarthur]

The method of rating from the crankshaft power to the prop shaft is covered by ICOMIA 28/83 SeeHERE
however I think some manufacturers were quoting prop shaft rating before that while others took some time after to bring the model descriptions in line with it. They usually quoted the actual power according to ICOMIA 28/83 in the detailed spec though

I run a Mercury 4cyl engine made in 1987, it is 45hp but it's called a classic 50and not the other way round. a super engine, i wish they still produced them .

 

[Tremlett 15]

I run a Mercury 4cyl engine made in 1987, it is 45hp but it's called a classic 50and not the other way round. a super engine, i wish they still produced them .

Yes, I would go along with that, great wee engine, last night I got T15 ready for our yearly trail to Cardiff for a classic speedboat rally, I cleaned the plugs ( original ) & 2nd pull ( manual start ) my 1976/7 Merc 500 started, if a wee bit smokey

 

[Tremlett 15]

i recently inherited a 25 hp Mercury. I have been trying to find some information on it but have had no luck as of yet. It has made in Canada on the tag but I was told that it may be a Belgium motor. I have tried looking it up with the s/n number but nothing comes up. The number I have doesn`t correspond with anything I have found on-line. Could someone please straighten me out. Thanks. S/N A713406 (25 hp 20" shaft)

sorry for the delay in reply, I somehow missed this post..........

well from my USA "paper" list, your serial No. is Canada build & its year is 1986 as it falls into the range A709071 > A719724, ( 1987 25hps fall into A719725 > A730815 )