My blown Merc XR2: 'rude guy's observations and questions

[pcrussell50]

this non-running XR2 150hp came with the hull i bought. i'm in the process of swapping over one of my spare v4 crossflows, and i spent today, de-rigging it from the hull--all i have left to do is hoist it off. this boat is 18 feet and solid/heavy feeling. it will probably be underpowered by the bubbleback. so i am going to rebuild this XR2 or put a replacement powerhead on it when i get around to it.

observation: WTF is up with the hokey clamshell cowling? what a crazy rig that is. yet, i'm strangely attracted to it.
question: the spring clamps on front that close the cowl tight have a barrel nut. one of mine is missing and the part is listed as NLA on boats.net. seems like i could use a hardwood dowel or cut a off piece of delrin rod--or buy one, but what s'n'f approved vendor sells them?

observation: the telltale pee hole is very small diameter and was blocked badly in the fitting itself. are replacements available?

observation: compression was
30-110
110-105
105-0

looking forward from the rear of the boat.
question: the starboard bottom that read "0" had fine aluminum slag on the spark plug. i've never had a melted piston, (even in my racing car motors that i build myself), but is that what would have caused the slag?

observation: the "power pack" (evinrude term, don't know what merc calls them) said it was for 3 cylinders. it is on the starboard bank. but i did not find another one on the port bank. weird.

more to come as i get into either the teardown or swapping everything over to the donor powerhead.

-peter

[Go Time]

Some here will have an old cowl clamp you can get a barrel nut off of. There got to be tons of those old cowls (stop using them in 1987/8) you can savage parts off. Just remove the hose and push or drill the obstruction in the plastic telltale hole out. The second switch box (power pack) is directly behind the other...if you remove the two screws holding the switch box you find they hold both with a spacer/standoff inbetween them. The aluminum is probably the result of the disrtuction in that occurred from either a broken part or detonation in the cylinder.

[pcrussell50]

on the the next, merc-newbie question: where/how do i get the factory service manual?

-peter

[Capt.Insane-o]

e-bay

[pcrussell50]

already tried ebay before i asked. looks like seloc or clymer for now. which is better?

-peter

[Sonik]

Well Peter,

I just so happen to have a Merc service manual I bought when I picked up my 1st of 2 XR2's back in 2000 or so. Problem is, I have no idea where it is right now as I cleaned up my office and garage quite a bit before I left on "vacation" back in February. I'll ask the wife to see if she can dig it up and if so, I'll see what we can work out.

Jeff

[baja200merk]

The second switch box is behind the one your looking at.

[pcrussell50]

This '86-'87 V-150 powerhead's coming off soon and after I disassemble it, I'm going to get the bores checked for taper and roundness and such, the usual stuff, so I can know whether to order standard or oversized pistons and whatever else I need.

The question is, is there any reason I need to deal with an actual marine-oriented machine shop? Or can I use one of the car-engine machine shops I'm already familiar with?

Thinking of starting a v-150 build thread, if there's any interest. BUT this will just be a stock rebuild. Not interested in a performance build for this motor.

-Peter

[Go Time]

I'm no machinist, but the boring machine used by my machinist is purpose built so it can bore the marine blocks (to a specific depth) which have a deck at the base where the rod slot is. You can't "bore through" like in automotive applications. Guess you need to check your machine shop's capability.

[pcrussell50]

well damn. that complicates things a little. i'm new to boats (been doing cars for ages), so i don't really know anyone. maybe i go to racer/al stoker? a little out of my way, but not too bad.

-peter

[Capt.Insane-o]

Good idea. Have him cut the heads and front half too, put in a good set of reeds and have some fun for a long ,long time. 2.0's and vipers are like PB&J.

[outasite]

Your best bet would be to take it to a marine engine shop.Out boards are bored using a old school boring bar,and need a tool bit ground to cut to the bottom of a "blind hole" Most auto engines are bored using a power hone like a sunnen ck10.They can be indexed to do an outboard it is very hard to get right.

[fyremanbil]

Q & E machine in Anaheim. They do most types of outboard and watercraft stuff. My last three 2L's have come out perfect.

[pcrussell50]

the rubber biscuits with the threaded studs top and bottom for the complex clamshell cowl mounting system: several of mine the metal "washer" has come unstuck from the rubber bushing/biscuit. is there fix, or do i have to shell out the $33 each for replacements. seems like re-gluing might work, but what glue?

what would you guys do? rig up a fix, or buy new ones?

-peter

[Capt.Insane-o]

e-bay or go to a newer cowl.