OK, here goes: 3 years ago I bought my boat a 1978 MonArk 16 foot with a 1977 Mercury 40 hp. The boat was "rust brown" and the decking was rotted out so I undertook to strip it down and repaint it, as well as replacing the decking. As this is my first boat, I definitely underestimated, 
and countless months, hours, beers, tears, and fbombs later I had an OD green jon in good working order. I kept the original seats, replaced the deck and carpet and foam, as well as the live well tubing. I built a battery and gas can platform, hooked the motor and steering cables back up, and started fishin'. In the process I found a very reliable boat mech on Lake Shelbyville and started dreaming about further mods.
In all of this, I never touched the motor, and for the last 2 summers she has run fairly solid with a little babying along. Under the cover however, lurk problems ahead. It's fairly clean, but all of the wiring is cracked, corroded, rusting, and brittle. Much of it was covered at some point in time by a previous owner with some sort of melted plastic looking goop. While this seems to have held for a while, my man tells me that when (not if) something gives this will not be a motor worth repairing. He says that this is due to the lack of availability of parts on this motor and the high cost when they are found. He further advises that I should start looking for a used Yamaha 30-40 hp to replace the motor with. Sounds great except that I just had my 3rd and money is tight, so I want to explore all options before I buy a new motor. The only other pertinent detail is that I have primarily been fishin' the freshwater lakes and rivers of Illinois but will soon be on the Potomac learning new waters (brackish).
So any helpful ideas, recommendations, or comments would be greatly appreciated. So far I have really enjoyed being a silent reader on this site and have learned a lot so I figure it's time to dive in.
and countless months, hours, beers, tears, and fbombs later I had an OD green jon in good working order. I kept the original seats, replaced the deck and carpet and foam, as well as the live well tubing. I built a battery and gas can platform, hooked the motor and steering cables back up, and started fishin'. In the process I found a very reliable boat mech on Lake Shelbyville and started dreaming about further mods.In all of this, I never touched the motor, and for the last 2 summers she has run fairly solid with a little babying along. Under the cover however, lurk problems ahead. It's fairly clean, but all of the wiring is cracked, corroded, rusting, and brittle. Much of it was covered at some point in time by a previous owner with some sort of melted plastic looking goop. While this seems to have held for a while, my man tells me that when (not if) something gives this will not be a motor worth repairing. He says that this is due to the lack of availability of parts on this motor and the high cost when they are found. He further advises that I should start looking for a used Yamaha 30-40 hp to replace the motor with. Sounds great except that I just had my 3rd and money is tight, so I want to explore all options before I buy a new motor. The only other pertinent detail is that I have primarily been fishin' the freshwater lakes and rivers of Illinois but will soon be on the Potomac learning new waters (brackish).
So any helpful ideas, recommendations, or comments would be greatly appreciated. So far I have really enjoyed being a silent reader on this site and have learned a lot so I figure it's time to dive in.
