TOPIC: 61 merc 80hp 6cyl FGS

I'm new to the boating scene just picked up an old StarCraft with a 61 merc 80hp, and I am looking to learn anything I can about it. my first question is where does it pull the water in for cooling?

I can feel a couple holes underneath just above the prop but one hole feels like it has a bolt or nut in it, other than that i see no holes anywhere. any help would be very much appreciated.

Hello bsaunders70 and welcome to Fiberglassics!


Those are great old motors.


The 61 Merc was a first with 80hp, full shift and ride-guide steering.


Cooling water intake is through the leading edge of the trim tab.

A few pics of the part:

Mercury had a special flusher that fit up to the intake holes of the fin. It was similar to what is used on an old Johnson/Evinrude Big Twin.

Easiest way to run this outboard out of the lake is to cut a plastic water barrel or similar so that it'll fit up around the bottom of the motor. Cut it high enough to fit about halfway up the center (exhaust) section as well, you want that trim tab intake to be completely covered.

Fill 'er up with water and away you go. I wouldn't recommend putting it in gear, though, unless you're just gonna idle it. Any throttle and all the water will go "WHOOSH"! Been there, done that many times!

I found the P/N for one of the old Tempo flush kits, 918FAA. This is for smaller OMC outboards. There's one on eBay for $30:

https://www. ebay.com/itm/128012647851

Probably could be bent/modified to fit around the Merc trim tab pickup.

Be sure to take the space out of the ebay address. This site still insists on censoring any eBay links. Dum!!

Tempo also made a 917TFA flusher for OMC Big Twins, it was a bit larger in design and had a spring-loaded plate to hold it in place. IDK if that one might be more suitable for adaptation to the Merc water pickup/trim tab.

But there happens to be one of them on eBay as well! How 'bout that.

Again, remove the space in the link. Or just plug in the item number and paste it into the eBay search box, it'll go there too.

www.ebay . com/itm/128012639749

Hello Ed,

I use this adapter on my 800 which screws directly into the water pump inlet.


Bob Grubb said shouldn't run motor using it but never had a problem.



Thanks,
Terry