'Lo everyone... 'Mercury Red Head Engines'...Fact or fiction ??? I have read somewhere (but can't find the reference ) that Merc made some special 'red head' engines in the '50s(?) for favoured racers, Can anyone throw any light on this or recall anything. The reason for asking is that our Mk40H project engine has the block & crank case painted in a maroon/red, although it's not be stripped down completely the inlet and exhaust ports have all been opened out and squared off and the transfer port covers have all been faired in and matched individualy...so its had an interesting life. The red on our engine looks to be the original paint and seems to be straight on to aluminium castings. Ok then... what was the colour of the standard MK40H block? :cheers:

I read somewhere that a batch of KG-9s were sprayed red instead of green but that's all I remember...will check my literature.

It is true that some KG9 and Mk40 motors were red. Maybe 1 in 20. I have never seen a true KG9H or 40H that was red, the colour on them is Cedarburg green.

Thanks for the responses re the red head, were these engines special apart from the colour? Can they be identified in any way (MK40H's are a learning curve for me as my other Mercs have been 1960s &'70s). hopefully there is a pic attached to this post, the hand painted white is obviously wrong as are the red pipes, but the block is red (ish) and it seems to be the only coat of paint...it could be the previous owners just fancied a red block....?

The Cedarburg green...as I don't have any green bits can anyone suggest a near match in a modern colour?

It's possible that your non-standard starter has green paint underneath.....here's a link that Alacrity sent..

http://www.pfs-ware.com/WhitePapers/index.htm

Thanks wise owl, I'll have a peek...

VIDEO 1958 speed record with mercury outboard should find interesting
the computer they use for time it bit small LOL :cheers: :cheers: :thanks:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjgsCuWI ... re=related

http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/s ... p?t=137683
Found this thread loads of interesting stuf on MERCS ,old advert tune up tips and old picture etc

Very interesting!

The 1957 and up powerhouse Mercury Mark 75 - 6 cylinder racing outboards. There were towers of power and sound that brought the world outboard speed record back to the USA by 1959 only then to have it tossed back and forth between Mercury and OMC in succeedign years. Enjoy the pictures.