Customer Reviews

Cheap Outboards: The Beginner's Guide to Making an Old Motor Run Forever

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Good book, but almost totaly dedicated to old (I meam old, like 50's to late 60's) OMC engines. The reason is well explained in the begining of the book, and it makes sense in a country like US or other places with strong presence of OMC outboards, however here in Brazil the market share OMC have is about the same the Japanese brands also have, and 50's to 60's outboards are real rare. So, for someone in Brazil, it's best look for some other book. However, if you are in US and likes to play with motors, this book may help in finding a good old pair of motors and put them in running condition.

I read a review of this book in Messing About it Boats and

had to order it. It is a clearly written, easy-to-follow

guide to handling one of the last relatively simple machines

available to consumers.

There are a lot of old outboards around because many of them

were used only lightly-so a thirty year old OMC may have had

less than 100 hours of use. If you follow the buying hints in

this book, you should be able to pick up a bargain, not a lemon

and get it in running order quickly.

--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and

the novel bang BANG. ISBN 9781601640005

Lots of details and pictures. Covers fairly specific OMC models and years not alot on merc or some harder too work on brands..

The book held up to as it was described. The author does a good job on helping you choose older outboards to obtain. This is not a repair guide so you will need to make another purchase to get in depth repair instructions. Still - a great book for obtaining a motor.

This is an excellent resource for anyone with an older outboard. Especially for the amateur mechanic, it gives practical information not usually found in a manual. I found it very helpful in getting my 1955 Johnson 10 hp running.

I see more and more large inboard boats coming up for sale at incredibly low prices. Incredible until you consider the mainenance costs. In this work Max Wawrzyniak takes the reader on a step-by-step journey to cheap and reliable marine power, via old OMC outboards. By following his advice I now have two 50-year-old motors that start with one pull and get the job done time after time. My total investment including parts has been less than $400 per motor. That is really hard to beat!

The author is an OMC buff and gives good advice about getting a ca. late 1950s- early 1970s OMC running if it's already in reasonably good condition. I also collect mainly OMC outboards but for a different reason than the author. I was a Mercury mechanic as teenager but raced OMC motors in the 1970s and 1980s, there's much less difference between Mercury and OMC for that era and beyond. That's because Mercury's head engineers, Charlie Strang and Edgar Rose, were both at OMC by 1968. So the 1968 and later OMCs run more like Mercurys, are fast. The author and I are both active AOMC members and his advice to join the Antique Outboard Motor club is good. One of the pleasures of life is attending an AOMC swap meet or a wet meet. Older boats and motors are run in the latter. Having said that, I will now give a slightly different viewpoint than the author.

First, I like the book, I found it entertaining. The chapter on replacing pressurized fuel systems in 1950s OMCs is very nice. The Mikuni fuel pump recommended can be bought for $25 including postage on ebay. I checked the OMC parts manual. The 1969 single line pump gasket is the same as for the 1970s-2000 OMC 4, 7.5 and 15, so you can buy that pump ($40 on Ebay). You can buy a deflector for a 1960s model that allows mounting the pump on your 1950s era outboard. Sea Way Marine should carry the parts. However, the male fuel connector for a single line tank is expensive, %50, it's the same on all OMC outboards through 2000.

The author is right that you will not be able to change the waterpump on a slant/weedless model 10-28 hp Mercury without special tools. Even with the right tools it's difficult, I used to own the tools since my parents were a Mercury dealer 1957-61. But I don't agree with the author to avoid all the 1940s era OMC motors. I have a 1947 Johnson 5 and a 1949 Johnson 10. The 5 is of a more primitive design, the 10 is a 'classic'. Parts are readily available for both motors through Sea Way Marine in Seattle, where you can also get parts for older Mercurys. The parts are generally not expensive excepting the coils. The 1949 10 is a very nice motor, it was the first modern Johnson. As advised by the author, the coil insulations on those motors had disintegrated, all coils had to be replaced. A 1950s era Mercury may turn up with good coils. I have a wonderful 1955 Mark 25 with good coils, and I have a 1958 coil for a 4 cyl. 1950s era 4 cyl. Mercury with perfectly good insulation. The external Fairbanks Morse magneto on the 4 cyl. Mercurys was first rate. Furthermore, the powerhead of a Mercury is not harder to work on than an OMC, no special tools are necessary other than (for both OMC and Mercury) a flywheel puller. It's easier to change points and condenser on a 4 or 6 cyl. Mercury than on an OMC because you do not have to pull the flywheel on the former. The 1941- Mercurys were and are very reliable motors, it was OMC propaganda that labeled them as unreliable. You do need a special tool to remove the waterpump of a 1950s-1960s era Mercury. However, when you replace the impeller you should also replace the driveshaft and propshaft seals, and you need a special tool to get the seals out whether Mercury or OMC. I've used a bent screwdriver or chisel to get the driveshaft seals out but it's best to use a special tool, a small slide hammer. I just bought one on Ebay for $50. The author's advice about avoiding repair shops is correct, they see it as unprofitable to work on an old motor or take one on trade. People buy rigs that cost from a few thousand to tens of thousands of Dollars now, and dealers don't want to invest time and money repairing a motor that will sell for anywhere from a few hundred to a thousand Dollars. The old motors are better than the new ones, the new ones (excepting all Evinrude models and the Mercury Optimax) are lumbering, heavy 4 strokes that won't accelerate and will spill oil out if you lay one on its side. Also, check out the price of a Yamaha carb reapir kit before you get sucked into a 4-stroke Yamaha. Some kits cost $125/carb as opposed to $25/carb for an old OMC or Mercury.

I prefer OMC outboards of the 1975-1995 vintage, excepting oil injection models. Those motors will wind up and run like a Mercury, blowing the doors off the older OMCs like the 1950s Mercurys did. I also prefer electronic ignition rather than points and condenser. You can buy an OMC service manual for your model for about $20 on Ebay. How to check the ignition: you check the resistances of the coils, charge coil and sensor coil without removing anything from the motor or pulling the flywheel. You check the wiring and coil insulation visually for cracks. If those parts test ok and the motor doesn't fire, then it's either the kill switch (or key switch) or the powerpack. Powerpacks can often be bought on Ebay for $50. I love not having to mess with points and condensers. Also, do not use any cheap oil. WalMart oil may be better than 1955 Mercury oil, but it's inferior to Evinrude or Mercury oil of today. Use only Evinrude or Mercury TC-W3 or synthetic oil (Evinrude, Mercury, Amsoil) at 50:1 in any full jewleled outboard regardless of age, and use 25:1 or even more oil in any outboard that has at least one bushing in the powerhead. All Mercurys from the 1940s on run at 50:1. The Johnson 10 hp QD models and many other OMC motors of the 1950s and early 1960s were not full jeweled and need more oil, some need 3/8 pint/gal. Also, stick to 93 octane gas, don't use low octane gas. The old motors were built in an era when good grade leaded 98 octane gas was common. If you use any cheap oil, then you may wind up with excessive carbon buildup especially due to running slowly or idling, and the lubrication may not be as good as it could and should be. Two very good classic outboards are the 1976-2001 OMC 15 hp (the 9.9 converts to 15 hp with a carb change) and the 1979-2001 25/30/35. The 25 converts to 35 hp with a carb change, and the 30 is the same as the 35, it's rated 30 hp at the propshaft and 35 hp at the crank. We own and run a 1981 Evinrude 7.5 and a 15 (the 15 is a lovely motor, it turns 6500 RPM), a 1983 Johnson 35 and 1975 Johnson and Evinrude 3 cyl. racing model 75s. A final note: double up on the oil when turning any full-jeweled motor over 6000 RPM. Our 75s turn 6800. The 1976-2001 OMC 15 was rated at 15 ho at 6300-6500 RPM and the proper operating range (stated by OMC) is 6000-7000 RPM. So, they should also have stated "tis is not a 50:1 motor, use 25:). I've inspected many cranks and blocks from 1970s and 1980s era 15s, most have pitted cranks and scored cylinders from too little oil. We've run our 1981 15 for three seasons now at 6500 RPM with Evinrude XD-100 synthetic at 37:1 and the little motor performs wonderfully. Good outboarding!

These are real old motors but the same ideas are in use today. Electronics need a scanner but that would be in your spec book or online. The mechanics are here to see.

this book is perfect for the beginner - it explains all of the workings in an easy to understand form - highly recommended

This is a great book for somebody that doesn't know much, or anything about outboards but would like to get into them. An excellent book for the guy with a screwdriver and crescent and some desire. Money well spent.