I have aquired a mercury 3.6 hp outboard which needs servicing. Do you know how to remove plastic engine cover

Question

and fuel tank so I can work on carb etc ? The engine appears to be late 70's early 80's going by engine number .

Answer 1

First remove the fuel cap.  It may have platic holder that hangs inside the tank.  You can fold the flaps to pull out the cap.  Then grab the cover (cowling) from the rear and pull out the starter cord and twist the starte handle so that it can be pushed inside the cowling.  Then just lift the cowling from the rear (away from the side that has the spark plug).  The cowling is not screwed to the outboard but does have 2 compression fittings in the front