Reply To: Merc 1100 Tower of Power Restoration

[DOUGLAS G. ROBERTSON]

Progress report:

The electronic ignition box and the coil are functional.  The system produces a 1/4″ spark.  About 3 of the 6 spark plug wires are bad.  They have the threaded fitting that screws into the distributor cap, so I guess I will have to find some N.O.S. wires.  My distributor has points but no condensers.  There are two sets of points.  When wired together per the diagram in the shop manual, they make six pulses per revolution of the distributor.  Dave Bernard said I will have to set the points carefully so that three of the cylinders are not leading the others.  I’m pretty sure I can do this using a degree wheel.

I figured out the mystery with the check valves.  I was looking at the balance tube system.  Once I realized there was another set of fittings into the crankcase it all made sense.  My check valves pass a small amount of air in one direction and none in the other.  As I recall they pass air outward from the crankcase.  They had a lot of black goo inside them, so I ordered new ones from Ferguson Poole.   I don’t know if they have some plastic parts deep inside, so I’m not taking a chance with using solvent at this point since Ferguson Pool can supply them.  Once I get the new ones I can take some chances trying to repair the old ones to have as spares.  Joe Poole, Jr. at Ferguson was very helpful and had everything I needed.   I will probably have to make a second order for the spark plug wires.  Hopefully they will have them.

I attempted to do a pressure test on the gearcase.  I couldn’t get it to hold any pressure at all.  I’m not sure if I had my fittings tight or whether there is a bad leak.  I got called away before I could figure it out.  I’ll probably try the soap bubble test.  I suspect I have a major leak at the propeller shaft seal.  There is a lot of oil around that area, but it could be TCW-3 dripping out.  I plan to reseal the gearcase anyway, but it would be nice to know where the leaks are.  I hope the shafts aren’t all rusted where the seals run on them.

I’m rebuilding the fuel pumps now.  They are all cleaned out and ready for the new  parts.

I removed the cowl support brackets and am getting ready to clean the engine block prior to painting.  I ordered some paint from Peter at NYMarine.

Overall, so far, so good.  I think the gearcase is the last big question mark.  Everything else appears to be repairable.