!40 Mercruiser and I/O

[Terry England]

Brush, I had one in a 20' Safari, just like your's. Conner and I crashed around in it in the 70's
It isn't the Chevy Nova motor. The 120 was. This is a special block Chevrolet cast for Mercury down in sunny Mexico, before they were NAFTA partners. it uses 327 4" pistons and does not develop enough torque to destroy a type 1 Alpha drive, but they have the typical gimbal bearing and bellows issues. The tilt and trim work great. The cylinder wall thickness is very thin and so there is a problem if you bore them with the cylinders cracking vertically and the engine filling with water. Along with the typical manifold and elbow replacement schedule of three year intervals, the cast tensioner on the alternator cracks, and you can't keep the belt tight. Other than that they are flawless and pretty good on fuel - 3+ MPG.
If I would have put a stubby bracket on it with an outboard, in 1978, like Denny, I'd probably still be running it.

[Bushwacker]

Boating Magazine did a test of the 20' Seafari in 1969 with the 140 Mercruiser and published a very good report on it with lots of detail on the construction, laminate schedule, etc., including a complete performance report.
http://www.classicseacraft.com/broch...cle/index.html I think this is a jpg file so it's pretty hard to read, but I have a good .pdf file of the original article that's much more readable. I have your email address, so I'll send that to you. I also have a couple of the factory brochures from '69 and '72 which I can send if I haven't sent them already. In that test, they ran a 15x21 prop; it was a 5 mpg rig, which will pretty much match a modern 4-stroke outboard!

[brushhippie]

Thanks for the info guys...Ive got the kit comin to fix the bellows and shift tube, should be fun...hopfully I can get her in the water fer a bit before it gets too cold...Momma wants to go cruise Table Rock lake while the leaves are turning...I better get busy! Already got my eyes open for a diesel replacement.....shouldnt be too hard to find one thatll make 140 hp! one that doesnt weigh ten thousand pounds may be a trick.

[DonV]

Originally Posted by brushhippie

Thanks for the info guys...Ive got the kit comin to fix the bellows and shift tube, should be fun...hopfully I can get her in the water fer a bit before it gets too cold...Momma wants to go cruise Table Rock lake while the leaves are turning...I better get busy! Already got my eyes open for a diesel replacement.....shouldnt be too hard to find one thatll make 140 hp! one that doesnt weigh ten thousand pounds may be a trick.

You forgot to add......and doesn't cost an arm and a leg!!!!