Hour meters ?

[2qwk4u442]

Hi all! Its been a long time since Ive been here. Even back to before this type of board. Anyways, Im still working on the 59 Cortland Thompson, or more specificly right now, the original twin 'rudes that hung on her back. God Ive been on this motor restoration project for 7-8 years now, on and off. (gonna try and post some pix in the next week)

I just buttoned up the first powerhead, a milestone
Im wondering far into the future that Im going to want to track the exact usage on these sweethearts.

Has anyone hooked up an hourmeter to their 50's 60's vintage outboard motor? What should I look for that will work with the magneto ignition?
I did see a type on ebay that wraps a wire around the plug wire, but this would be unacceptable to me. These motors are/will be at "museum quality" and I dont want some extra wire hanging around the spark plug lead that I'll need to explain every time someone sees it. (and yes, I'm going to use these babys and the boat, up on Lake Erie)

Thanks for reading....
HELP / any ideas?

Rob

[johnpthompson]

Rob,

I am no mechanic, but on my 1969 Mercury 125 hp, the hour meter is tied into the ignition switch. If the switch is on, regardless of whether the motor is running, the hour meter runs: The switch obviously then runs off the battery, not the directly off the motor. This works just fine unless you leave the key in the on position when the motor is not running.

Good luck with the home-stretch on your restoration project.
John Thompson

[2qwk4u442]

Thanks for the reply and input John. I'll look into that way of hooking up one for each motor. I would prefer to go at the motors themselfs thou, I figured putting the meters out of sight down by the tanks somewhere.
Has anyone else run hour meters?