Merc 850 plastic carb covers/needed

[CALVIN]

The plactic carb covers on my 85..are they needed?..Also the plastic cover that covers the air intake under the lower carb..can that be remover safely to let in more sir?

[Raceman]

If you're lookin' for increased performance by removing pieces off the carbs (or even putting on larger carbs for that matter) on an 850, you won't find it.

If you're talkin' about the plastic grates in front of the carbs, they're there to help big pieces from going in through the carbs, and on some engines provide stability for choke butterflies. They don't help or hurt performance.

About all you can do to help the performance of a 4 cyl 850 is optimize the prop and setup, and if that doesn't get you where you want to be, find a '73 or newer inline 6 powerhead and cowl and bolt it on. (it's a direct bolt on)