1960 Evinrude 5.5 hp

[Jamey]

Hey guys, been a while but I hope everyone is well. I was just given a mint condition 1960 5 1/2 hp Evinrude from a friend up in TN whose father passed away a year or so ago and he just got around to cleaning out his mom's basement. He still had the original gas tank, brochure from the dealer, and the receipt where his dad bought it for $180 in Knoxville in 1960. It was probably used 15 or 20 times, and since then has been sitting in his basement covered up. I have been amazed at how good the condition of all the hoses and gaskets seem to be. I fired it up tonight for a few minutes in the driveway with the foot in a bucket of water. It cranks, but you have to throttle it all the way up to get it going, and it doesn't want to idle. May just need to run for a little while, but I didn't want to run it that long (I only had it going 2 or 3 minutes.

Quick question ... can anyone tell me where the water pump discharges on this motor? I've always been taught to look for the stream as soon as you crank any outboard, and when I couldn't find one on this one, I shut it down and I really don't want to crank it again until I know where it should be coming from. There is a small hole on the side that looks like it should be the place, but it has a rubber cap down in it that seals it off? Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I certainly don't want to screw up something that has been so well preserved for so long!

 

[Chris]

Post a picture.

But my best guess is that yours is similar to most of the old OMC's of that vintage in that they discharged from the middle of the rear drive shaft housing.

I don't think it will have a tell tale if that's what you're looking for.

With respect to the idleing issue...

It could be a lot of things given the vintage of the motor.

I would clean the carb and have a look at the points. If it's been sitting for quite a while it will most likely need an ignition overhaul.

 

[Jamey]

Chris, I am pretty certain the pump is stove up. If I'm not mistaken, the power head has to be removed to access the water pump. I found a site on the net that claims to sell vintage reproduction parts, including the water pump for this engine with instructions detailing correct installation. However, I think Evinrude will still supply parts as far back as the mid '50's. Any suggestions?

 

[Hemi4Me]

Hi,

Sounds like a pretty cool find. I work at a boat dealership in Georgia, we don't sell Evinrudes any more, but we sell parts. As far as I can see, I checked and the parts lookup on the computer only goes back to 68, but I did find the motor on microfiche, not sure if it has a tell-tale, can't tell, but it looks like you have to unbolt the midsection/gearcase as a unit to access the water pump. As far as getting the pump, I have to dig a little deeper, hopefully it's not NLA.

 

[Chris]

Chris, I am pretty certain the pump is stove up. If I'm not mistaken, the power head has to be removed to access the water pump. I found a site on the net that claims to sell vintage reproduction parts, including the water pump for this engine with instructions detailing correct installation. However, I think Evinrude will still supply parts as far back as the mid '50's. Any suggestions?

I'm really familiar with the late 50's models. I've rebuilt a few of them over the years.

To change the water pump on the late 50's models, you have to pull the powerhead. It's a pain, but really not that big a deal. You then have to seperate the two housings and you'll find the waterpump enclosed in a case.

You can still get most of the parts from various places. For the waterpump, you can normally get a kit which is the way I've done it in the past.

There are also manuals available. I bought an old dealer original parts list off eBay for mine. It gives you parts explosions so you can find the parts numbers. I really don't need instructions myself, I just use the parts list. There are also eBayers who sell photocopies of the same.

This guy has a pretty neat site which has a bunch of how to's...

He also has some links to various related sites as well.

http://www.outboard-boat-motor-repair.com/

 

[Chris]

Hi,

Sounds like a pretty cool find. I work at a boat dealership in Georgia, we don't sell Evinrudes any more, but we sell parts. As far as I can see, I checked and the parts lookup on the computer only goes back to 68, but I did find the motor on microfiche, not sure if it has a tell-tale, can't tell, but it looks like you have to unbolt the midsection/gearcase as a unit to access the water pump. As far as getting the pump, I have to dig a little deeper, hopefully it's not NLA.

I don't think it has a tell tale. That was a Merc thing up until OMC joined the party in the 70's from what I remember.

The pump water and exhaust both exit through the dump on the back of the drive shaft housing on those old OMC's.

You have to look while it's running and see if the water is pumping out. I usually hold my hand under and see how much water is pumping as it's sometimes deceiving with the exhaust also pumping out of the same spot.

 

[Chris]

Here's one of my old gals running.

You can see where the pump exits on this pic.

Here's a link to a little story about this one from a few years ago.

http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7439&highlight=grandfather%27s

 

[Hemi4Me]

I don't think it has a tell tale. That was a Merc thing up until OMC joined the party in the 70's from what I remember.

The pump water and exhaust both exit through the dump on the back of the drive shaft housing on those old OMC's.

You have to look while it's running and see if the water is pumping out. I usually hold my hand under and see how much water is pumping as it's sometimes deceiving with the exhaust also pumping out of the same spot.

Cool thanks for the info, I've got a 1947 2hp that I bought at a garage sale for $25 that I need to put back together, by the way, do you know where I can buy a good set of pistons for a 1974 70 Evinrude Hustler, they are NLA from BRP. I got that motor for free, but it's not real bad, I mean for free and all.

 

[Blizz]

The parts for waterpump for that motor were used up until atleast the late 70's so they are redily available

 

[Blizz]

You can also buy a complete tune up kit for that motor for about 170.00 if your gonna use it alot. It consists of
1] 172522 TUNE KIT
2] 584477 COILS
3 1/2 ' PLUG WIRE
2] 581027 PLUG BOOTS
2] NGK B6S SPARK PLUGS
1] 439071 CARB KIT
APPLICABLE HEAD GASKET
1] 391391 WATER PUMP KIT
APPLICABLE BASE GASKET
1] 303355 DRIVESHAFT CORK SEAL

 

[Chris]

Cool thanks for the info, I've got a 1947 2hp that I bought at a garage sale for $25 that I need to put back together, by the way, do you know where I can buy a good set of pistons for a 1974 70 Evinrude Hustler, they are NLA from BRP. I got that motor for free, but it's not real bad, I mean for free and all.

Have you checked to see whether any of the other inline three cylinder OMC pistons will fit? They made that same motor in different configurations for twenty plus years. I would imagine some of the pistons and rings must cross over between models. I would probably check and see. I don't think there was much of a difference in the hustler motors and the fishing motors. I think they just had a few goodies like different exhaust and intake and different decals.

But I'm no expert on those OMC three bangers.

SCT bought one for his little MX, he might be able to tell you.

 

[Hemi4Me]

Yeah, I was told that after 76 the porting in those blocks had changed, so I guess I'll just find some Wiseco's. Evinrude doesn't seem to have a .020 over or .030 piston availabe anymore. Oh well, starting to get second thoughts about the motor though. Don't think it's gonna be enough for my V-Mate, but I might build it anyway.

 

[Jamey]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I bought new spark plugs for it, and fired it up again with a bigger bucket of water to set it in. Amazingly enough, the thing fired up in two pulls of the rope, and ran amazingly good for the amount of time it has set up. Once I got it going good, the water pump did start working, so I could monkey with it for a little while (it is the same type as the one you showed in your picture, Chris). It's running pretty much as smooth as you'd like at mid to high RPMs, but it bogs itself out if I let it idle to low (around the "shift" range). I had already ordered a waterpump kit for it, and a manual from West Marine to help with the installation, so I plan on going ahead and changing it out to be safe. I figure by getting the powerhead off I can inspect the carburetor better and tighten up some of the screws. It seems like it may have a slight air leak somewhere on the carb messing up the fuel mixture. Hopefully my manual and water pump will be here by tomorrow and I can start studying up for a weekend of fun taking her apart!

 

[Chris]

Hi Jamey,

The carbs on those things are pretty simple. Usually in the manual it tells you to screw in the jets until they seat and then back them out a certain amount. That will usually be enough to get the motor running decently. After that you can make small adjustments with a screwdriver out on the water. At least, that's what I do.

What I would do is clean the carb, it's probably a bit gummy. And I would overhaul the ignition. I'm assuming you've got points, and if you do and it's been sitting, they'll most likely be pooched. Just get a ignition overhaul kit with points and condensors and change them. You'll have to get a little three way puller to pull the flywheel.

Those old motors are pretty simple. So keep it simple and think about having good air, fuel and spark and it'll run like a champ.

 

[Jamey]

Well, I've hit a snag tonight. I rebuilt the carburetor with no problem, and put in new coils in the ignition with little problem, but tonight I changed out the waterpump, and I cannot get it back together right. I need help! My problem is getting the water pickup tube to seat with the grommet when I reattach the lower unit. I've tried sticking the grommet up in there with my finger, and I've tried just putting it on the end of the tube and sliding it into place. Both times it wound up being blocked and I've had to start over. I'm tired of taking the powerhead on and off of this thing ... how can I get that tube lined up correctly/grommet seated? There is no way to see it once the lower unit is pushed up into place?

 

[Chris]

I'm going from memeory here...

When I have done mine, I leave the powerhead off until the end.

I usually just push the tube up into where it goes- which is a rubber boot of sorts if I remember correctly - and then I tighten down the rest of bolts on the foot and lower unit.

Once I've got everything sorted, I then put the powerhead back on.

 

[Jamey]

That's correct, the powerhead goes on last, but it's when I'm joining the lower unit back up that I seem to be running into problems. I cant get the water tube to seat with the grommet. The grommet either gets sideways, slides down the water tube or something. It's just not allowing water to flow through. My problem is I can't check the water tube connection until everything is back together and I crank it, to find no or little water flow.

 

[Chris]

Are you talking about the rubber boot that sits on the end of the water tube? The one that is located up inside the leg?

 

[groucho]

Did you get it back together? I have the identical motor sitting in our resort's ship store area. It was my Dad's motor and my first motor on my first homemade boat ( A Minimax Hydro built in our basement) That motor went on every family vacation, Canadian fishing trip, and excursion we had that involved a lake or a river. I still runs perfect. Just a little tired.

When my Dad died my nephews were going to paint it "deadgrass" and use it for hunting. I interceded and have it ever since. I think of it as part of the family...Well sort of.

Anyway back to your issue. That basic design was used on the 5.5 and 6 hp for years. It was also used on the 7.5 hp in the 50's too. I worked on them as kid and sold parts for em' too. The original part # for that impeller was 277181. Sold a ton of them. And had to give advice over the counter as to how to get that tube in too. We would ( if it didn't stay in the first try) tip the engine level ( horizontal) or stand it on it's head w/the tube firmly in the upper sleeve and then install the gearcase. You could then see that the water tube would pretty much line up with the bottom sleeve with no chance of the tube falling out of the top.

Whoever designed that so you had to pull the powerhead to change the waterpump should have been sent back to design school. WHAT A PAIN!

 

[Jamey]

I finally got it back together by setting it upside down on some blocks while the powerhead was off, and using a socket to press the grommet into place. It lined right up from there and went together like a breeze. It will crank now from dead cold on one gentle pull of the rope, and it absolutely purrs. I'm pretty excited to get it to the lake this weekend and give her a whirl. Bought a little 14 foot jonboat my 8 year old son has dubbed the "Chum Bucket" (spongebob fan). We painted the inside with spray on truck bed liner (compliments of Walmart) and good old primer and rustoleum on the outside. Should make for a fun little fishing rig this summer, I can't wait to try it out! With gas approaching $4 a gallon this summer, it will be nice to spend some time on the water in something other than my Checkmate from time to time ... nothing sucks up the gas quite like a 5.7 V8! At least I can crank up the stereo while she's floating at the pier!