Having been raised in an OMC family and Evinrude dealership, dad and grandpa did me well by brainwashing me never to sit behind the wheel of anything with a Merc on it. I have many vivid memories of the shop and repairs with OMC single, twin, tripple and V-4 engines and little to none of Merc products. Fact the only real thing about Mercs is just like the Johnson 90, the Merc 110 was the biggest POS ever made. Both are were viable anchor solutions. Anyhow, for the life of me, I never knew the real reason why the two motors in the subject line had elastic cords Xed over the hoods and can only speculate that they had issues with covers falling off. So, why was that not corrected? I know the later V-4's (99.6 cubic inch) had 3 couplers on each corner of the hood and the early v-4's, (89 cubic inch) only had a metal hook and a bayonet lock at the front.

If anyone has an answer you will help me sleep better at night as it has been near 40 years and cannot figure this one out.

Anyone???