I am a believer in ‘newbies’ succeeding in their first endeavor into playing with small/old outboards. With that in mind I agree the best pick would be to go to leeroyramblings, read all you can and then start with an OMC 3 or 9.9/15. Easy and relatively inexpensive to rebuild with a great chance of success. Then with at least one engine under your belt start looking for something really old or esoteric.
All my Mercs are too old for electronic fire. Chuck speaks the truth, All needle bearings that don’t like H2O Many parts to be had….just expensive.
Carl did some weird designs, Need to think like him for rational. Once it is built & tuned correctly it flys. My 10 hp KG7 is faster than my Johnson 18.
Push the pistons in reverse, no head, Yea, different.
And, since we are on the subject of beginner, we need to set the record straight about Carl Keikhaefer and his myth regarding his 19 cubic inch Green tank motors rated at Only 10hp. Sorry Carl, but no matter how much you wanted to live this delusion, 19 cubic inches does not equal 10hp.
Brian , they were rated at 10 hp @ 4000 RPM’s till 1950 . starting at 1951 they were rated " horsepower changes with RPM. shame Mercs could run up to 6000 RPM as the EVINRUDES and JOHNSON’S topped out at 4400 – 4500. sorry that’s the story for the 10 hp.
That rating is still incorrect. I own numerous 19 cubic Inch outboards that are rated higher than 10 hp at 4,000 rpm. Still one of Carl’s deceptions and mistakenly taken as fact.
Max’s articles (on line, and collected in the book) got me started, but the book is PRIMARILY oriented to working on OMC (Evinrude, Johnson, Gale) engines.
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