Old new gear

[Downwindtracker2]

The 7.5 and 9.8 Blue Band Mercs take the same bottom ends. So if you can find a mid to late '70s 7.5, you can change over. The stripping each year was different, but it had a blue band in it, that's why they were called Blue Band. The face was black plastic instead of aluminum. In '74 they made a lot of improvements .

[Beachcomber]

The 7.5 and 9.8 Blue Band Mercs take the same bottom ends. So if you can find a mid to late '70s 7.5, you can change over. The stripping each year was different, but it had a blue band in it, that's why they were called Blue Band. The face was black plastic instead of aluminum. In '74 they made a lot of improvements .

Maybe I am mistaken then; mine has a brown band and "9.8" in red reflective tape on the back of the cowling.

[Downwindtracker2]

I think that's even later than the Blue Band, some of the last years ever made. One of my stalled projects is mating up a '73 7.5 and a '74 9.8. These are last years of the aluminum face. They have a carbon steel drive shaft. The next years had a stainless steel drive shaft. You really appreciate that changing the impeller. Tricky on the Merc, dead easy on the Yammy. In fact that was why one of the 7.5 blue band had a blown motor. He didn't get the impeller blades right. At least that will give you an idea of years with out looking up the serial #s.