TOPIC: Full gear shift

I have a 1963 six cyl 80 hp black and white. Was told they were called dock busters . This was sent to Wisconsin and now has a full year shift or what he said was a neutral. Has anyone heard about this. Going on a beeline sapphire so want to make sure before I do.

The last of the Direct Reversing (Dockbusters) motors were built in '61. The last year of the 80hp Six in any flavor was '61.

So maybe someone has been playing Mix and Match with faceplates etc. But you certainly cannot have a '63 800 Dockbuster, because they simply weren't made.

A few pictures might clear it up. Take one of the front of the engine, showing the faceplate, and one of the side. This should be enough to figure out what you have. The transom clamp's bracket should have a serial number on it and this will tell a lot as well.

BTW there's no simple way to turn a Dockbuster into a FGS model. You'd have to have the entire FGS motor minus powerhead and swap-over the Direct Reversing powerhead. And likely that's not simple either, as I have had the experience in the past that the crankshaft ends differ in that the Direct Reversing 800 crank is broached differently than the FGS crank. I had to cut off and re-spline a FGS lower unit in order to fit a Direct Reversing powerhead on top.

HTH...............ed

The 800 in 61 was made in both dock buster and full shift. the dock buster had a tower that is rounded under the lower cowl. the full shift had a squarer tower with a removable cover under the lower cowl.

I have a Mercury 80 hp Model E #1400863. I also have a 50 hp.
Photos attached.

Nice motors! Your 80hp FGS serial # makes it a 1961 model. Either motor will look great on a classic boat!

So does that mean the 80 hp has a neutral and is not a dock buster. The beeline saffire will handle up to 100 hp. Is that to close to max or would 50up be better suited for that type boat. Thanks mark

luckyone wrote: So does that mean the 80 hp has a neutral and is not a dock buster. The beeline saffire will handle up to 100 hp. Is that to close to max or would 50up be better suited for that type boat. Thanks mark

"Full Gear Shift" means what it says. So you've got Fwd, Neutral, and Reverse. The 800 should push your boat the way you'd like. And besides, the old Cloud White inlines look so cool! BTW that 800 has a beautiful chromed faceplate. Made out of real metal, too.

The 500 would be an excellent performer on a lighter, 14'-15' boat.

Your motor has two levers on the side of the belly pan. One for throttle, one for shift. Dock busters lack the shift lever...

Another giveaway is the starter, a dockbuster has two pinion gears, not just one like yours has, and the DB's had different rotation props. Pictures of both here tell me it is a shifter engine and not a buster.

Hello Luckyone,

I like the 800. Please post more pictures.

Thanks,
Terry

I have attached a few pictures.
doc

Hello Doctor,

That is quite a collection you shared with us. And I see the 400 and 850 have been retrofitted with power trim.
Is it really as simple as replacing the shocks with the hydraulic cylinders and controls. I’m working on an 800 and want to add PT.


I found these parts that I think are what I would need but have not picked them up yet.

Luckyone,

I would like to see more pictures of the 800 powerhead showing the carbs and fuel pumps. From what I can see that motor looks pretty original although it looks like somebody hit it with paint.

Thanks,
Terry

I am attaching a few close-up pictures of my 1961 800fgs.
I converted it to a solid state ignition - I believe it came off a 950ss.
Converting to a solid state ignition off a 90ci Merc is easier than some of the foolery required to step up to a '70's 99ci solid state, because the 99ci block is taller than the 90ci, and consequently the carburetor linkage is enough different and requires use of some of the 99ci upper distributor drive parts.
I hid the CDI electronic's switch-box & coil assembly up in the top hat, mounting it where the original electric choke solenoid would have been.
To be able to use this area for the electronics, I converted to a later model Merc enrichener system.
Other than my desire to use the choke solenoid's mounting area for the CDI-e components, an enrichener system normally isn't needed and the early inline-6 Mercs, because they had choke butterflies on all three carburetors.
The '70's & early '80's 99ci inline-6 Mercs only had choke butterflies on two of the three carburetors, making a cold start a real PITA at times.
An upgrade to an enrichener on those Mercs make a miraculous difference in cold starts.
Also, in respects to the addition of power trim on the pre-PT Mercs, I understand that Mercury didn't recommend the addition of the '70's PT, because of a lighter constructed swivel housing & steering shaft.
Although I have done this conversion without problems, the fact apparently remains that Mercury didn't recommend it.
The safe solution for the shorty (15") Mercs, would be to snag a shorty swivel housing & steering rod assembly off a late '60s thru early '80's 4 or 6 cylinder Merc that shows PT components as an option in their respective parts break-downs.
Besides the need to remove the Reverse & Neutral Lock components on a Pre-'65 big Merc, you will also want to cut off the steering arm, and continue using the front of the lower engine pan with its related steering components.
To convert a long shaft (20") pre-PT Merc to PT, the same basic swivel housing & steering shaft retro-fit would be suggested.
On the '60's thru early '80's long shaft Mercs, you can also track down a mid-to-late '80's inline-6 or 850-4, 80-4, 75-4 Merc OR 3 v6 three ram PT assembly, with its transom brackets & swivel housing, armed with a set of custom made bronze bushings.
All kinds of mods using stock, and often obtained cheaply parts.
doc

Thanks for the pictures Doc.

Noticed you have plugged the crankcase bleed ports. I have had a cc bleed check valve fail on two occasions. The motor would start but as soon as you gave throttle it died.





Hey Luckyone,

Please post more pictures of the 800 powerhead.
Thanks,
Terry