Please help ID a Martin

[wiscoboater]

Hi Guys,
Hope everyone made it home safely from Tomahawk. I picked up a Martin 75 today. I have never had a Martin before so I was hoping someone could help me ID what I bought. Serial # CB 109382. It was dark when I got home with it so that’s as far as I got for today. Will post some pics tomorrow. It’s very clean and original and it runs. Correct fuel mix?

Thanks guys,
Wannabe

[frankr]

Old Outboard Book says it is a 1951. I think it is 3/4 pint per gallon and SAE 30 oil in the lower unit. But don’t take my "think" on that. I haven’t looked it up for verification.

[b-morrison]

Russ Larsen will have the correct manuels and info. Look him up in the links..

[wiscoboater]

So I got home today and gave her a try. Started on the 3rd pull with the 2 year old gas in the tank. I only ran it about 10 seconds and shut it down. Tomorrow I will drain it and add some fresh gas and see if it’s pumping water. Not a bad craigslist score for $85

[bobprock4200]

Hard to beat a deal like that Wannabe! Yes, 3/4 pt. to a gallon of fuel, but I regularly run my "75" at about 24:1 with synthetic blend. The lower unit uses #40 wt. oil because of the Twist Shift. Others without the shift use grease. One thing you’ll want to check though is the water pump. Because of the twist shift it uses an impeller type (available from Russ) instead of the "wobbler" type in "60’s". It’s not tough to drop the lower unit though because the access plate on the side of the leg gives you access to the spring clip that links the shift cable to the lower unit. But those little vanes are prone to break off with age. (And once you’ve replaced the impeller on a "75" it’s the same process for a "100".) Enjoy!

[wiscoboater]

Thanks Bob,
How does the twist shift work? When I started it, it seemed to be in gear at all throttle positions.

[frankr]

It’s been a long time since I’ve been into a Martin clutch, but just about all mfrs have a history of such a thing at one time or another. Basically there are two hubs in line. A spring winds around both hubs. As one turns, friction grabs onto the spring, making it wind even tighter. That means it grabs both hubs and everything turns as one single unit. To de-clutch, some sort of device interrupts the driving hub end of the spring, making it unwind a bit which releases it’s grip. When it doesn’t work, suspect the cable or whatever operates the interrupter.

BTW, this type clutch is always engaged (in gear) when not running. It has to be running, or at least rotating, to cause the spring to unwind when the end is interrupted.

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