Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

[05GlastronSX]

hey guys...

I have just acquired an immaculate all original 1948 martin "40" with under 10 hours of total use at the Milwaukee boat show last night (Monday). The guy i bought it from is a collector of antique outboards and has owned it since new. It is a 4.5 h.p small twin and i know that it uses martin's patented poppet valves too. I am planning on using this engine and am no collector of these beautys so here it goes...

I am pretty good mechanically with outboards but i have never owned an outboard of this era. My grandfather used to own a martin "60" which was a 7.2 h.p model and he had passed it down to me. I let a friend of a friend use this outboard years and years ago and the idiot forgot to mix the oil with the gas so it blew up....and to make a longer story shorter, the guy did not keep his promise in fixing it and i never heard from him again nor did i ever see the engine again. Lesson learned:don't let your friend's friends use your stuff! .)

Now for the questions...
What oil should I use with this outboard and what is the ratio? I know all about the TCW III rating and i only use good oil in all of my engines but can i use mercury oil with this engine or is there another oil that may be better?

These old engines have real problems with the reformulated gas here in milwaukee but this engine will only be used up in the northwoods in Rhinelander, WI. Will 87 octane be ok and should i use any additives in it ever like stabil or other products?

is there anything i should do to prep it before summer besides changing the spark plugs and figure out how to change to gear lube?
Any info about this manufacturer or engine would be great too... thanks

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

Keep that one looking nice. Buy something different to use. It'll lose value with each and every tiny scratch and you'll hate yourself. Fire it up and use it for special occasions only to keep it fresh. But please don't use it regularly. Save it for your firstborn. I'd rather use something I wasn't worried about damaging than always feel like I was walking on marbles.

 

[05GlastronSX]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

the thing is that it will be used on only one lake and i know the lake better than the back of my hand. It is one of the cleanest lakes i have ever been on and its not shallow in any places except near the shoreline so there is no potential places or ways to damage it.

My intent is to have fun with it and enjoy using it. I am very, very meticulous about my stuff and i am not the one to slam it on the little boat that i am putting it on, then take it off, throw it in the shed uncovered then take it out whenever i need it. After each use ill clean it off and take care of it just as i do my 1992 merc and 2005 merc. I do not care about it losing its value because i will not let that happen. I bought it to bring back the old memories of how it all used to be when i was growing up.

 

[DJ]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

87 octane is fine. Use any outboard oil that is TCW-3 rated.

I would mix it at 16:1.

 

[jimmbo]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

My neighbour gave me a Martin outboard back in 1973. It didn't run so I took it apart. I believe the gas oil ratio is printed on cowl. The trim of the engine is adjusted by turning what look like the middle(extra) transom clamp. I guess it could be adjusted on the fly, kinda makes it the first power trim, although I would be worried about the motor striking something and tilting up whist my hand is on the transom bracket, Ouch!!

 

[05GlastronSX]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

thanks guys i appreciate the feedback. Anyways, how difficult is it to change the lower unit lube and impeller on these older engines? i cant imagine its anything more than a few common tools right? Also, is there any prep work i should do to make sure its running and looking at its top? any other info would be helpful...thanks

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

i'm sure you've seen this before, just a reminder

http://forums.iboats.com/bbBoard.cgi?a=viewthread;fid=36;gtid=1035575

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

Servicing the LU is pretty easy. Before you put it through its paces on the boat, follow the steps in the thread "Awakening a Sleeping Outboard" in the FAQ forum of this board. You need to get to know Russ Larson at http://www.martinoutboards.com
Might pay to pull the flywheel and check the coils, points and condensors...especially if you like servicing your own gear. The tilt mechanism on the Martins is made so you can raise the motor and swivel it back over the boat...very handy when you're out on the water. Let us know how it goes...some pix of it pushing your boat on the lake would be mucho cool.

TWM

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

Great little motors, and by all means USE IT! You'll find that once you have everything set correctly that it will idle better than anything you can find nowadays! The Martins had poppet valves instead of reeds and they would really idle down well. I had a Martin 20 that would idle so slowly that you could almost count the prop revs and the boat would be going backwards with the current overtaking the motor's forward thrust...
- Scott

 

[steelespike]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

I think there is a Martin guy over at the Antique outboard Motor club. www.aomci.org
I think my first concern would be the condition of the pump. after 50 some years.

 

[05GlastronSX]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

Thanks guys again. Im going to first address the pump and impeller and then ill get to the rest. Chinewalker, im going to use it and i am excited to see how well it actually runs. for the LU oil, will mercury hi performance lube work or not? I know this engine is by no means "high-performance" but i have a 150 that i use that oil in so...

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

I'm not certain, but I am fairly sure that motor should use Lubriplate 105 grease, not oil... Most older direct drive motors of that style used grease in place of oil. I'd wait on that until you get the manual from Larson's which should confirm one way or the other.
- Scott

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

I'm with Chinewalker, I've always used L-plate 105 in outboards that are direct drive. The Merc lube will work but may leak out if the LU seals aren't that great. Russ Larson will know.

 

[05GlastronSX]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

hmm...thats weird...i guess ill buy the owners manual for the thing then...thanks guys for the help...

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

My first experience with Martin was with a 60 back in the '50's on the White River in Arkansas. I didn't know the 60 was 7.2 hp. It could plane out a 14' river john with 3 people and gear.....no Johnny/rude could do that, but like I said, I didn't know it was that hot. I was forever impressed with the brand.

Somebody else owned it. I was in the boat with the party who owned the 5.5 JR and we were wallowing in their wake.

I was impressed.

I am so happy for you to make a find like that. I'd just sit and look at it; doubt that I'd run it personally.

Mark

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

Ok guys, Q&A time again. d

What is a poppet valve and why was it superior to a reed valve? What activated it? I suppose it was complicated and more expensive, maybe less reliable (?) that reed causing reeds to become the standard?

Thanks,.

Mark

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

The Martin poppit valves were a patented induction system (which George Martin took with him when he went to Oliver outboards in the mid 1950s, after Maritin Outboards folded around 1954). They used a valve a little like those found in a 4-stroke and ran it off a cam on the crankshaft. Rather than relying on crankcase pressure to open and close a reed of spring steel, it was a mechanical opening and closing. Made for nice, smooth idling...
- Scott

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Martin Outboards...info needed please..Pic

Thanks.

Amazing how affluent knowledgeable folks of a trade drifted in and out of their previous competetiors factories.

Guess that's what's it's all about. Sell your wares to the highest bidder.

Mark