Re: Best 60-90 hp motors of the 70’s-80’s?

[20mercman]

I would vote for the Mercury inline 6 cylinder 90hp. These were the smallest horsepower of this displacement. These ran smooth, great fuel economy, great low end torque, all around a great motor. We have a 1981 version of this motor since it was brand new, and I could not be more pleased with everything about it.

Steve

Edit: I also like inline 4 cylinder Mercury’s of that vintage, with a caveat. The Mercury 4 cylinder 650 that ended in the early 70’s, were very good motors. I have a 1971 80hp. inline 4 that is also a very nice motor, but can’t hold a candle to the 6 cylinder 90. These ran and idled so well that folks trolled with them in our area. Salmon fishing on Lake Michigan was in it’s heyday then, so a lot of this size motors were sold. The problem with the 80 and 85 hp inline 4’s was that they used the same water pump as the inline 6 cylinder. These cooled almost too much at low speeds and they could wear out or round. I did have my bored out +.030 and it is back to it’s as built performance.