boatman

Yup. That is pretty much a 1955 Evinrude 15 hp with a few changes/differences. As I stated at aomci.org any recoil from a 1949-55 10-15 hp Johnson/Evinrude will work. If you want to use that Johnson hood you will need the cowl mounts for it. You really don't want to run it without them. It'll rattle like nothing you've ever heard before.

I don't have the parts catalogue for that motor, but I would expect that any 15-18-20-25 OMC top mounted recoil from 1956-1976 would fit. Tune-up parts are the same as Johnson/Evinrude. Go to the Ask-a-member-board at AOMCI.org and ask what motors share the same recoil.

I should have also added that the coils are probably shot on your motor. The original coils had a 100% failure rate. There should be an inspection plate on top of the flywheel. Remove it and take a look in there. If the coils are cracked, sweaty or discolooured they are bad even if they spark. You can get new ones from your dealer ($35 each) or NAPA ($26).

A few pictures would help.

I just have to add that my 50" Panasonic Plasma sits on the main floor of my well lit house and we don't appear to have any glare issues. I just mentioned it to my girlfriend that people are saying you can't use a plasma in a well lit room and she just looked at me like I have 50 heads. I take it that meant she didn't notice a problem either.

Johnson never made a 12 hp, but the Gale division of OMC (Johnson's parent company) did. The 12 hp Gale built outboards were based on the 1953-56 OMC 15 hp, which is the predecessor to the 1957-76 OMC 18 hp. So you may either have a 12 hp or an 18 hp. Who knows. If you can post some photos and/or the model number I can tell you what you have.

Motor is gone.

Thanks for all the interest. Looks like its gone pending pick up.

I know a few guys that work in remote Northern Ontario (fly-in stuff away from any communities) that swear by those socks. I have yet to try them even though they say I'll never go back to regular socks.

Hi all,

I hope its ok to post this here. If not, please move to the classified section.

The outboard motors are starting to pile up in my basement so now I'm purging the riff-raff. I have for free, no strings attached a 1968 Mercury 6 hp. The motor was taken apart for cleaning and repainting when I got it. I never got around to it in the two years I've owned it since I have several other motors that are higher on my list of priorities. The motor has great compression and was supposedly running before the tear down. The lower unit needs to be rebuilt (new bearings not gears). I believe everything is included in the box, but I make no promises.

If anyone is interested in repairing an old outboard for fun or learning this is a good one. All you have to do is come pick it up in Ancaster (Hamilton). I'll be away hunting all next week so the sooner you get it the better. Drop me a PM.

That's great. A friend gave me my first shot gun - a 1926 Model 12 Winchester 12 gauge. It was bought new by his father.

I'm not a Merc guy either, but I will give you my honest opinion without purposely bashing them. I have repaired and sold a few old Mercs and I currently have one of the subject motors on my rack. I have a low opinion of most 1960-80's Mercs as my experiences with them have been mostly negative. But keep in mind that some people love them. There must be a reason for that, too.

The Mercs of the 1970-80's are decent motors. Many are still in service and work great. Many do not. From my experience, they can be hard to start. Mercs are also better for cruising and wide open throttle (WOT) running than trolling. As said, they are not known as fishing motors because they often don't idle down low very well. They're reputation was built on speed not trolling. With that said, my Merc 20 hp seems to start and idle fine, but others I have seen do not. Mercs can be both extremely reliable and down right tempermental. It doesn't seem to matter how well they were maintained. Some are just fussy.

Parts are available, but can be expensive. The driveshafts were made of steel (not stainless steel) until the early-mid 1970's and are often corroded and pitted. This may cause cooling problems (water pump not sealing) or drive problems (driveshaft splines rust out). Mercs require some special mercanic tools mostly for the lower unit.

If its a good deal and you feel confident that you can repair them then go for it. You might end up with one good motor out of it. I always say I'll never buy another one and its always a lie.

I ordered a prop from them a couple years ago. They had the best price on the prop I wanted. I still had to pay customs, though.

A question, and honestly I don't know, but how do you know that the QL82's run hotter and why is that better for trolling? Because I do like to troll

For Champion plugs (like most, but not all spark plugs), The higher the number (in this case 77 vs 82) the hotter the plug.

That sucks. I'm signed up as a supervisor. If your friend can't do it drop me a line and I can supervise for you. I'm in Hamilton.

Runnin' Back to Saskatoon...couldn't be truer. I have yet to meet someone from Saskatoon that wasn't hoping to move back someday.

Only stopped in Moosomin once, but drove through it hundreds of times. A good buddy of mine is from there, too.

Sorry, my mistake. I just re-read the post. It doesn't say it happens when wet just that he unplugs before getting them wet. Ignore some of what I said.

Hey Goran,

Since its only blowing when the light gets wet it is likely due to a bad seal on the light bezel. The wiring is probably fine. Unplugging the lights is fine, but the problem is that the bezel fills with water and doesn't completely drain before you plug the lights back in. It may not blow immediately. Sometimes, water sits at a level below the blub and doesn't short out the socket until you turn a corner or hit a bump etc.

I'd replace both bezels as mentioned. Solder the new connections and use waterproof shrink tubing on the wires. Actually, I'd replace the whole thing from the 4 wire plug on back.

Both Champion QL77JC4 and QL82C are fine. The former was the original recommendation. I don't know if they changed to the hotter QL82 after they dropped the oiling ratio back down to 50:1 from 100:1 or not, but if you do a lot of trolling I'd get the QL82's. If you do more WOT running then perhaps the QL77 is best. Either is fine. Plug gap is .030".

No worries. I used to tow the boat in my avatar (14.5' Springbok with 30 hp electric start Johnson) with a 1999 Cavalier Z24 5 sp, 4 banger with no trouble at all. Package is well under 1000lbs. However, I'm surprised someone hasn't come by yet to say that you need a full size 4x4 truck. Someone usually does.

Must be a slightly different motor then. Good luck with it.

Thanks for taking the time to look into this Scugog. I've thought about getting a tiny tach for testing outboards. I guess I have no excuse not to now.

We have two of those at work. Ours might be slightly newer and I believe they are early 1980's (1982-3). I might even have the manuals for it in soft copy, but that will take sometime to find as I'm in the process of retiring my old computer. I think Honda might keep the parts catalogues online so I'd check them out. You will need the model number of both the engine and generator.

Anyway, it's a great generator. Very easy to maintain and repair. Most, if not all, parts are still available. If you've got it running then all you have to do is keep it maintained. I recommend using 5W30 (I prefer synthetic) oil in the crankcase. That way, if the power goes out when its cold out (spring, fall or winter) you won't have to fight the normally recommended 30W oil to get it started.

Here are two excellent sites.

Boating forums are all things boating including motor repair:

iboats.com

Johnson/Evinrude parts catalogues back to 1968.

epc.brp.com

Kissel, Westbend, Chrysler and Eska have all made outboards for Sears. Westbend and Eska both made air-cooled models. The 5.5 hp is probably an air-cooled Westbend.

Condition is everything. Lots of these motors are still in service. Age will determine parts availability. Don't expect much. Resale is very low. If I was buying the package I'd pay whatever I thought the boat alone was worth.

Sorry to come to the party late. I answered your PM.

The fuel mix is 24:1 using 87 octane gas to TC-W3 outboard motor oil. The original mix was determined using 30W motor oil. Using synthetic oil like Amsoil HPI will greatly reduce the smoke. This is a water cooled motor. Do not use air cooled 2 stroke oil (chainsaw oil).

90W hypoid gear oil is fine for the lower unit or use the lower unit oil you get at Canadian Tire. I use 80-90W synthetic gear oil in all my outboards because I get it for free.

Take a look at the coils. The coils of that vintage always bad even if they spark or run in a barrel. If they are the orginal coils they WILL fail on you. If they are original they will be cracked, sweaty and/or discoloured.

Seafoam is available at NAPA and Car Quest auto parts stores. CTC doesn't carry it.