First Boat have questions

View attachment 2I just bought my first boat, it is a 12ft Tracker Tadpole with a late 60's Mercury Merc60 6hp motor. So far my son and I have replaced the seats and carpet, added a Minn Kota 30lb thrust trolling motor. I had to buy a new gas tank and I am not sure what connector I need to hook the fuel line to the motor. I attached some photos if anyone can help. Thanks

You're going to need a female Merc connector. The only question is whether you need the small or the large connector. In the 60's, mecury introduced a small version of their normal connector. They only used it on some of the 3.9, 6, and 9.8 hp outboards. They discontinued the small connector after a few years and that has caused the small connectors to sell for a premium price today. You can find the normal connector for $10-$15
https://www.iboats.com/5-16-Barb-Fuel-Connector-Aluminum-Sierra/dm/cart_id.099290512--session_id.310146622--view_id.187424

while the small connector will set you back about $50 https://store.oldmercs.com/product_p/30635t3.htm

I believe they only used the small connector on the 6hp from the early 60's, so you should have the large connector if your motor is a late 60's.

Thanks JMichael, I believe mine is a 1967 serial number 2140923. Looks like I am going to need the 50 fitting. Is there any other options?

I agree it looks to be a 67 model which means you should have the larger and the less expensive connector. If you can get the diameter measurement of yours and post it, I'll compare it to mine just to be sure if you like. The only other option I can think of would be to remove the male connector that is currently installed in the motor and extend the fuel line outside of the motor a few inches. Then you could install what ever type connector you wanted to on the end of the line. But that's not a very neat alternative since the connector would just be flopping around on the end of the fuel line.

It is 5/16" in diameter.

I'm not sure whether your measuring the tip or farther up on the body so I'll give you this

I get 7/16" on the main part and 3/8" at the tip where it tapers down. I know it looks like 5/16" at the tip in the pic but it's camera angle.



The locking ears are 3/4" tip to tip.



From the back side of the locking ear to the tip is 1 1/8".

Here's what I did for my 1970 9.8







If you do it this way you can buy fitting just about anywhere. Going with the original your limited to internet ordering or a mercury dealer.

I like that conversion casey. Is it fastened down by the screws on the inside so it's rigid? BTW walmart sells the merc connectors. At least the ones around here do.

It isn't, I just have it placed in there. There not too much play, but I do need to secure it a little better.

I picked up the 12 dollar mercury female today and it is way too big, it must be the 50 dollar part for sure. I am going to figure something out and post pics when I get it done. Thanks for the help guys, nice to know there is somewhere to get help and people don't treat you like an idiot.

Here is what I came up with. Looks pretty good and is secure. I am ready to she if she runs. Is there a spot to attach the rabbit ears to run with garden hose?

If by rabbit ears you mean the muffs, I'm not sure you can use them with that motor. I looked at the parts breakdown to see where the screen was located on that motor. The only thing I can tell is that it looks like it's on the bottom side of the cavitation plate just above the prop. You may need to find a barrel or other container large enough to run it in.

Rabbit ears would NOT work. Get a barrel or a trash can and fill it up with water to run it.

Hey 2x, I have 76 merc 110 9.8. It doesn't appear to have ports for water intakes either. I noticed a small 3/4" or 1" vented port above prop as mentioned by jmichael. I'm guessing for a water pump. Can you take pic of yours so I can compare. I'm wondering if I need to run in barrel as well.

Any of you guys that need a barrel to run your motor in, see if you have a crop duster service in your area. They get their herbicides/pesticides in 30 and 50 gal drums. They can't give them away fast enough and usually have to hire a recycle service to come in and grind them up just to get rid of them. They are usually more than happy to give the barrels away to anyone that wants them. Just be ready to use a jig saw or other cutting device to cut the top out when you get it home.

P.S. They rinse the barrels when they empty them but I'd give it another wash out before filling and running your motor in it just as an added precaution.

As already suggested.... unless you are wanting to stay all original, you can change out the connector on the engine. Most likely you could fix the "large" merc fitting in there to use the one you just bought. Good luck with it.

Does anyone know the oil/gas mix ratio for a 1967 Mercury Merc60 6hp motor?

astephenson2x said:

Does anyone know the oil/gas mix ratio for a 1967 Mercury Merc60 6hp motor?

Click to expand...

I had a 66 model 3.9 hp that used 50:1 and my 77 model 20 hp uses 50:1. I'm pretty sure yours would use the same.

So I got the motor running. It had not been started in about 2 years but fired right up. I was wondering where the pee hole is for the motor. I did not see a stream of water shooting out but I don't see anywhere for it to come out of. There is a "flush" labeled hole with a plug in it. Any help would be great pics would be better.

I don't know the exact location of the tell tale hole on your motor but it shouldn't be too difficult to locate. Look around under the engine cowling for just the tip end of a small rubber hose. Similar in size to a vacuum hose on an engine. Here's a vid of a 68 (I think based on serial he gives) and if you go to full screen mode and look closely in the vid you can see the water coming out just below the lower red label on the back right corner.

[youtube]g7M9s-s1r5M[/youtube]