General info question on 69 Merc 1250

[JasonJ]

I was pulling and cleaning the plugs on my 69 Merc 1250 yesterday when I noticed on the block it had the word "Typhoon" cast in it, and on the head it had "Variable Timed reed valve and Performance combustion chamber" or something like that cast on it. The outboard is a 125 horse, has the thunderbolt ignition, and has red accent stripes rather than blue. Is there any advantage or significance to any of this? I see a lot of blue stripe Mercs, but not a lot of red stripe Mercs. Are the red stripe Mercs more performance oriented? I had assumed the motor was a 1970, but was told it was a 69 based on the serial number #2710003.

 

[The Marine Doctor]

Re: General info question on 69 Merc 1250

The red stripes were used until 1973. Then the blue stripes started to appear.<br /><br />You just have an older engine. <br /><br />TMD

 

[JasonJ]

Re: General info question on 69 Merc 1250

Hey thats cool. This thing runs perfect, we'll see how well the new motors are running 34 years from now...

 

[skier]

Re: General info question on 69 Merc 1250

Your motor was the first and I think only model to retard the timing from 3/4 throttle to full throttle. My parents had the same model and it lasted til 1993. A reed pettle broke and leaned out #5 cylinder and began melting rings. Still ran on 5 Cylinders though. Drove it for another 2 hours back to the other end of the lake. I'm glad that yours is working great. Keep it up.<br /><br />Craig