40/44 tech and buy sell swap

[blueskyracer]

Mike,

I have tons of CARBs - AJ - KA - KC's. KA21, 24 and 26 are my preferred carbs take a look at the spec sheets in the Merc manual and you will see why I prefer them over even the KC's. I can scan the spec sheets at some point and post the info. It covers all most of the ka carbs and a few Kc's I think.

Dave

Dave, posting the specs would be great for us folks that are just learning about this class. I would like to say thanks to everyone that responded to my carb request. I think I have the problem taken care of. Now I get to ckeck out the mag and then who knows what I will need!

[crankbearing]

Mike,

I Have drawers and drawers full of mags parts, caps, centers, rotors, bodies, coils etc...

[blueskyracer]

Mike,

I Have drawers and drawers full of mags parts, caps, centers, rotors, bodies, coils etc...

Thats great news. Some how I will probably be in touch real soon the way this project is going.

[blueskyracer]

How many versions of this motor was there? I have been researching and see a MK55, MK55A, MK55H. What were the differences?

[ram95]

Sam... that was a super-summary.
Nothing ran as smoothly as a 4 cyl "fully jewelled" Mercury by Kiekhaefer......until the rotor button 'carbon tracked' causing a definite kickback, not to be confused with a lean-mixture sneeze.

To really be a happy camper, one needs to have a Merc-Tronic tester. They're out there. You can check coil power; primary resistance; condenser leakage or short; and set the point dwell. Condensers have been a problem and cause hard hard starting, Coils which seem to have good spark, break down under the 'coil power' test. And, if you don't have the little degree plate to set your points at 54 degees of dwell.... well, yer on yer own!! Some folks think the Fairbanks Morse (the little black mag) puts out more power. Hey... if they are winning races, who am I to argue. However, the Kiekhaefer (the larger mag) has a larger rotor button and end cap which is far less prone to carbon tracking (building a carbon path to a terminal).

Ohh well, this is getting off track.

Alex

[blueskyracer]

Sam, that was a great history lesson. It was a little confusing back in the good old days. So of all the different designations which years were considered the best for building a race motor?

[sam]

The one you build yourself

What you do is more important than what you start with

[crankbearing]

Tools like these AHH! the good old days.









Dave

[Jeff Brewster 59s]

I am impressed....

Sam,
Holy cow! Did you grow up in Fond du lac????
That was an amazing post!
Maybe you should have co-written "Iron Fist"?
So, what was Carl's blood type?

[bh/]

"in 1963 and on, the 44 was only sold as the 500 (is this the year of the bolt pattern change too?)"

The mounting bolt pattern change, and water inlet position, occured in the '65 and '66 models. It coincides with the off set spark plug change. The change from a mag to a CD ignition was a year or two later. Basically means you cannot use the post '66 powerhead on a M55H style mid section without modification, or use the pre '66 block on a 44XS mid w/o modification.
Racers opinions vary on the effect of the off set plug. Service mechanics say it just made it idle better ??

[Larry M]

Sam that was an excellent run down on the old 4 cyl Merc's. That should help people who are looking for motors in Mod.

Larry Mac

[blueskyracer]

Dave those tools don't look like they have been used for a while. Lots of dust collecting.

[crankbearing]

Mike,

I use them as much as I can, the dusty one is a Stevens combo unit with OMC electric shift lower unit testing and that does not get much use anymore. Attached are a bunch of files which are a good read. Props explained for the new person, detonation information, jetting charts, carb drill charts and the 55H carb conversion instructions. Enjoy
Mike If you could dwnld these and resize em, post em as pdf attachents so I could get the links of my server would be great they are all pdf's now.



http://www.scottcraftboats.com/downl...ls/jetting.pdf
http://www.scottcraftboats.com/downl...detonation.pdf
http://www.scottcraftboats.com/downl...conversion.pdf
http://www.scottcraftboats.com/downl...ill chart1.pdf
http://www.scottcraftboats.com/downl...ll_chart_2.pdf
http://www.scottcraftboats.com/downl...ill_chart3.pdf
http://www.scottcraftboats.com/downl...ools/prop1.pdf
http://www.scottcraftboats.com/downl...ools/prop2.pdf
http://www.scottcraftboats.com/downl...ools/prop3.pdf
http://www.scottcraftboats.com/downl...ools/prop4.pdf

rgds,

Dave

[blueskyracer]

Dave that is some good info.

So what spark plugs do folks prefer to use in the 40/44. I personally like the NGK brand but have no idea what numbers would apply. Probably back in the 60's and 70's they used some form of Champion plug.

[ram95]

Something I didn't see amongst Dave Scott's collection was a Milli-amp meter. Mine came from Mercury... err Kiekhaefer back in 60 in a nice little black case. It was used for setting timing. The nice thing about it was that on the Fairbanks or Kiekhaefer mags, you didn't need to disconnect the condenser in order to have a 'clean-break' indication on the points. Yeah yaa I know a buzz box works and so do some other gizzmos, but THAT thing really worked (but, you had to have it plugged in to an electrical outlet so it was only handy inside the shop).

I have a couple "B1" timing lights I won while serving Uncle over in SEA. We used the B1 on recips (R2800's R4360's). Here's the Federal Stock Number if you can find one, FSN 4910-255-1449 (mil spec mil-L-20703B), or FSN 6625-512-9180. They work nicely too, with the mag installed or on the bench and everything hooked up. They're D-cell powered.

See the little round degree plate in Dave Scott's first photo up on the top right of the pegboard? You'll need one of those to set the dwell (that's the amount of time the points are closed and the coil is being saturated). Then, you see that little pointer laying on the manual next to the Merc-Tronic tester? You need that too. It came as part of the package with the degree plate.
Of course, if you really want to be cool, you won't let anybody see you using any of the proper tools...you'll just let them wonder why the heck your motor starts and runs so good.

So, after you get that 4cyl all glued together and want to check timing down in the pits, you need to have a good means to do that. A dial indicator is going to get you .375 before TDC but you'll need to be able to see the points break without guessing, to set your max spark advance stop.

Alex