New boat with Palmer M-60 engine

[Duvie]

I purchased a Gull of Bristol Pilot last week that has a Palmer M-60 marine engine. To my surprise the base engine for the Palmer is the International Harvester C60 found in the Farmall Cubs! The I made a feeble attempt to bar the engine over but she seems a bit stuck. Going to pull the spark plugs and see how things look in the cylinders. The oil looks new/clean so at least there appears to be no water in there. To me, the new oil might be a red flag as to the engines condition. I would rather have seen it well used.

 

[MM-TX]

Welcome to YT. How about some pictures. Sounds like an interesting project. I bet some of those parts are hard to get.

 

[chico1]

I purchased a Gull of Bristol Pilot last week that has a Palmer M-60 marine engine. To my surprise the base engine for the Palmer is the International Harvester C60 found in the Farmall Cubs! The I made a feeble attempt to bar the engine over but she seems a bit stuck. Going to pull the spark plugs and see how things look in the cylinders. The oil looks new/clean so at least there appears to be no water in there. To me, the new oil might be a red flag as to the engines condition. I would rather have seen it well used.

Yes, Palmer used the C60 as the base for the M60. There are differences, mainly the manifold. They are impossible to get new and tend to be rusted through or nearly (especially if used in saltwater).

 

[used red MN]

The oil looks new/clean so at least there appears to be no water in there.

Oil can look new yet have water in it that has settled to the bottom. Best to crack the drain plug and loosen until it drips to see if it is water or oil.

 

[Duner Wi]

Oil can look new yet have water in it that has settled to the bottom. Best to crack the drain plug and loosen until it drips to see if it is water or oil.

Loosen plug till it drips. This works good for transmissions and differentials too.

 

[Duvie]

I do not have the boat home yet but I took a few pictures today. Can’t just pull the oil plug…… it’s a boat. Even if you could get to the oil plug you wouldn’t be able to catch or see anything. My point about the oil was that it is brand new clean. Like someone changed it thinking it might make a difference or to hide something.

When I get her home, I will pull the plugs and see how the cylinders look and suck some oil out with a dip tube down the dip stick tube……hopefully oil and not water. First job is trailer lights and other trailer maintenance so I can tow her home.

 

[used red MN]

Can’t just pull the oil plug…… it’s a boat. Even if you could get to the oil plug you wouldn’t be able to catch or see anything.

I know nothing of the configuration of this thing. Does it have a hose or something to drain the oil? If it is lower than drain hole out of the pan the water will collect in the hose.

 

[Duvie]

Most boats nnalert the oil out the dipstick tube.

 

[used red MN]

Most boats nnalert the oil out the dipstick tube.

I take it the censored word involved the act of suction. Probably should add “low tier cost wise”…boats.
Edit: Don’t get me wrong it is definitely a nice little tub worthy of saving.

 

[Jim Becker]

A Palmer M-60 shows up once in a while. When they do, they usually can be purchased for very reasonable prices. Quite a few were used as auxiliaries in sailboats. Some have been pulled out and replaced with small Diesels as owners are getting gun-shy about the risk (real or imagined) of gasoline fume explosions. Most of the parts needed for an overhaul are the same as the Cub engine. A lot of the other major parts are specific to the Palmer. Palmer was eventually owned by IH.

 

[Duvie]

I am trying to figure out what year this boat was built. The serial number on the engine block is CUBM11999. The original MFG plate is missing on the boat and it is pre HIN requirements. Palmer put engine data on the exhaust manifold and that plate is long gone also.

 

[Jim Becker]

Not much information available on IH Palmer engines. Look for date codes on the large castings. They look like (+dd.dd.x+) where the first dd represents the number of a month, the second dd represents the day in the month, and the x represents a letter that is code for a year. It looks like you may have one on the head, about halfway between the oil filter and the closest spark plug. There may be one on the block, near the engine number you found.

 

[Duvie]

I was working on my B414 and left some parts at work, so I switched gears, pulled the boat into the garage and hauled out the Palmer 60. She was locked up pretty good. Wouldn’t budge with a 4 foot bar on the flywheel. So I pulled the head (it is sooo easy on this engine), and soaked the cylinders for 24 hours with PB Blaster. Still, no movement with the 4 foot bar. I cleaned out the PB Blaster, and squirted Kroil into the bores. Decided to add a touch of acetone to each bore also. Less than 5 minutes later, I put a little pressure on the 4 foot bar and she freed right up! I was pretty impressed.

The cylinders look pretty nice but the valve seats look like they could use some cleaning up. I removed the reverse gear and about a pint of water flowed out of it, which is about the worst of the news. I also loosened the oil plug and pure oil flowed out. So it seems as though the engine is pretty salvageable but the gear is going to need extensive work or replacement.

Thinking I might go with a 15 to 20 hp diesel repower?

 

[47fivewindow]

Diesel would be a good choice. That would make a very nice boat