2nd Hand Outboard?

[SteveCan]

After reading Blaze's post on his outboard, I was wondering what my options are on a 2nd hand outboard for a V169 Sportsmancraft. I would be looking for 70-90 horses worth of 2 stroke. I have a 70 now and it is adequate, but a bit more power would be nice.

Can anyone give me a ball park idea of the $$$ I would have to spend and what do I need to look out for when buying second hand? My other option is to look for a new boat - but that is another story completely.... Besides, the hull we have now is sound and performs very well for what we do so i am not all that anxious to change.

Cheers
Steve

[Big_Kev]

Steve when I was looking it was hard to find anything that was late model and at a price that I was willing to fork out for. Hence I ended up buying a new unit .
But the motor that I came closest to buying was a 97 merc 75hp .
At Wondal road marine Wynnum . They told me they wanted five grand for it but i'm sure that if I got a bit more serious about it a better figure than that could have been done,as oposed to fitting it up and so on .
But at any of the dealers there will be no bargain thats for sure . But you will get some sort of a warranty from them or don't touch it .
A water test from a private sale and test by a the dealer,and as with any two stroke it must have good compression, and have a look at the condition of the wiring particularly at the insulation(if its crook it swells up a little and may need replacing)and at the wire ends where it terminates . Check the prop for damage .Pull the plugs and have a look for anything that doesn't look normal (water ,rusty excess soot) .
Take out the gearbox plug and check the oil is not burnt or milky ,and if it has a magnet check for metal (some fines are normal ) .
Start it and make sure it runs smooth after warm up and on a test run make sure it will pull hard out of the hole and not cough and splutter(possible coil or other ignition fault,or carby tune).
Make sure good water flow from the tell tale even at low RPM .
Have a look at the general appearance , a privately owned very well looked after donk should still look almost brand new even at ten years .
Recomend to change thermostat , fuel pump kit , water pump impellor .gear oil and plugs on a two stroke if bought second hand .(major service merc 75 ,350 bucks from memory)
May give you some bargaining power when negotiating a deal . #
A merc two stroke should have 130psi on all pots and should not go to much away from that or a rebuild could be on the cards in the near future.
Happy hunting Kev #

[coasty]

Why not just get some performance work done to your motor if its still in good condition.
dont know if it can be done to all motors but a mate had his bored out from a 40 to a 50 and better inlet with a port and polish with flow test done its great