Which motor to purchase – if any

[RICHARD A. WHITE]

Ummm ALL of them…
Then get the javelin up and running and sell the others
Javelin easiest parts with minimal tools, when properly rebuilt will last your lifetime and then some.

Merc, totally different sound, sometimes better speed, a bit more difficult to work on, but parts available for both.

http://www.richardsoutboardtools.com
classicomctools@gmail.com

[mr-asa]

From a novice point of view, I’d say that a Johnson/Evinrude would be a little easier to get running right than a Merc

Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean much, everyone has their own preferences.
I do agree that you should pick all of them up (if they’re a decent price) and sell what you don’t want

[opposedtwin]

I agree. The javelin would be best for a beginner. That one looks like a 1956 however which makes it a 30 hp and it looks like a long shaft. The Mercury (red/white) in the picture is a mark 55 (no shocks) and could be an early one-1955. The face plate is from 1955 at least. And if you don’t want it, I’d be interested. The other 2 mercs would be white (I think) and would be very sweet to have running. That said, the pictured motors look pretty rough. depending on the compression, $100 might be getting up there for the javelin. ANY of the mercurys are worth the $100 asking price as is.

[Michael Anfossi]

Johnson looks to be long shaft, others appear to be short. So you should check your transom height because if long, the Merc’s will not work without a lot of effort to make them long shaft motors. The Johnson can be made into short by removing the 5" extension. Water tube and shift shaft can then be cut 5" – will need to source a short driveshaft though

[gearhead4]

Go with the Javelin! I do not own one but I do have a RDE-19 that’s similar and it’s simple and reliable with plenty of power. It’ll run for the remainder of your life and then more. I’m just not a Merc guy, too many tools and too cramped. Anyways, good luck and I’d buy them all then sell off the Mercs to get them into the club.

[joecb]

The Johnson for sure… Also looks like that one has the controls. How about the boat wiring harness, any have that? If missing, I would guess that the Johnson/ Evinrude one will be a lot easier to find.

Joe B

[ronboonville]

I would buy the Javelin only. You never know what you might get for the mercs or when. Use that money on your boat and motor. Twice I’ve said "I’ll never buy another Mercury"

[20mercman]

One thing to remember is that this board has a fair number of OMC fans here and their suggestion on the Javelin is understood. It was a very good motor. They are known for being good dependable power and look nice. That said, I would ask what do you want to do with the boat? As was already said, the Mercury at 50hp vs. the Javelin at 30hp will most likely be a faster motor as they are going to have 40% more horsepower. There are a great many Mercury experts that feel that the inline 4 cylinder motors were Mercury’s finest hour. I would think long and hard before I turned away from one of these. As you said that you are working on an early 60’s boat, then for me it would be a clear choice to at least check out the 60’s Mercury’s as they would be a better match for the boat. The one in your photo is likely a 1962 as it has thru-the-hub exhaust and 62 decals. (62 was first year of the hub exhaust) Go to Johnsoldmercurysite.com and talk to George Garland for information on these 4 cylinder Mercury Motors. Great site for the Mercury fans. What ever motor you get, you should plan to do a full restoration on it to make sure that everything is as it should be. The Mercury motors are not hard to work on in my opinion, but it is often what you have experience with.

Steve

[weedlessdrive]

I would question if you are going to use the boat for towing skiers etc? Or just weekend runs to cruise? From a reliability standpoint it just depends on how vintage you want to go and of course how much you want to work on it.
I would agree with the Javelin but its long shaft counts it out as I would be looking for a short shaft for it.
I might even look for a later 60’s 25hp less weight, depends on how fast you want to go and what you are using the boat for?

[jerry-ahrens]

One thing I would do before buying any of those, is do a compression test. While the Big twin [Javelin] is a great motor, it could have been overheated and scored a cylinder. Same goes for the Mercs. It’s hard to beat any of the 30, 35, or 40 OMC engines. Parts are easy to come by and many parts are still readily available new. As Steve said, the inline Mercs are great runners too, especially the inline 4 cylinders. If you want speed, the Mercury motors will deliver. When properly tuned and set up, they are excellent running engines. Here is my 1961 Merc 500. I like it so much, it stays with me in the office at work!

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