Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

[reelfishin]

I looked at a boat today that has what I believe is an early to mid 60's 50HP Chrysler motor. The number plate is badly defaced, and I am not able to make out any of the numbers. It has the semi rounded style fiberglass cover with the aluminum trim panle in front. It's a twin cylinder with a single carb.
The seller test ran the motor in a tank to show me it ran, it was running on a 6 gallon portable tank since the tank in the boat is rusty, the motor ran great and sounded fine, but I noticed that the fuel pump and filter have been bypassed and it was running with the tank ran directly to the carb. They have the tank hard plumbed to the carb, no pump, no filter, only a primer bulb. What amazed me is that it ran and kept it's prime for at least a half hour.
My questions are, were these magneto engines? Ignition Points or other?
I have no experience with Chrysler at all, these are new to me. It ran too good to replace and the boat is priced right and super clean.
I just can't figure why or how it runs without the pump. The owner said it's been hooked up that way for years. The pump is intact and seems to be all there, it's my guess that the rusty built in tank kept clogging the filter so they did away with the tank and old lines, and ran a new one not knowing any better and it ran so they left it. I just can fathom how it's able to keep drawing fuel from the tank, especially under load. I did run it in gear a bit and it seemed ok, but it was running in a barrel of water and I was afraid to push it too hard that way.
If I buy this boat I would be looking at putting it all back to factory, providing I can find everything to do so.
Does anyone have any pics to help ID this motor? I didn't have my camera when I looked at the boat, but if I get it I will post pics.
I just wanted to make sure that these weren't some odd, undesirable motor.
It seems pretty well built from what I can tell so far?

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

If the motor says chrysler on it then it is at least a 1966. Prior to that they were Westbend. They made a 50 HP in 1965 and 66 then again in 1981-83. The fuel pumps are standard and a rebuild kit is still availible for them. NAPA sells the rebuild kit 18-7806 for about 10 bucks. I doubt the ignition is anything special. It is on breaker points, condensor, and coils some of which are still availible.

 

[steelespike]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

My info only goes back to 69.It appears the 50 Chrysler first appeared in 81.
Though of course there could have been something previous to 81.
The 50 uses battery ignition with a flywheel mounted altenator.
Chrysler history:: West Bend motors was purchased be Chrysler circa 64 then became Force circa 85.
Certain Chrysler parts will be difficult to find Chrysler/Force reputation is
shakey.There is no new Chrysler/Force Specific parts production.
If you get the boat be sure to get a service manual and follow procedures as the ignition can be damaged by improper troubleshooting.
Also there are other specific procedures that need to be followed.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

The ignition looks like a straight up magneto with a coil.
I have been searching the web for a pic of a similar motor but haven't had any luck. The odd shaped cover has me stumped as to the year. It's shaped like a firemans hat, with a big bold aluminum front panel with a huge 50 on it. The sides have two aluminum panels about 3' tall with Chrysler on them. The top is fiberglass and very rounded, it don't at all resemble any of the other boxy looking Chrysler motors I have seen. I have a buddy that has a 1965 40 hp, this 50 dwarfs his motor. It's only a twin cylinder but is much larger than any other twin. It more reminds me of an Evinrude Big Twin motor. If I go back, I'll take a few pics, I will most likely get the boat this weekend either way.

Does anyone have any pics or a link to any pics of some early Chrysler motors?
One feature that really caught my eye on this was the very pointed lower unit, the prop shaft housing forms a sharp, extended point as on the early WestBend Shark motors.

The owner swears that the motor and boat came together new, although it came from an estate sale, he claims to have known the original owner and remembers the boat when new. Could there have been any early Chrysler badged West Bend motors?

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

Mine is from 1967 and is a 45HP. The plastic bottle is my green peace invention. Older chryslers puddle drain systems did not recirculate fuel for a re burn and just dumped it back in the lake through the kingpin and the motor leg. My guess is you motor is actually a west bend that did not sell prior to the chrysler overtake so chrysler decals were put on the motor leg.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

Chrysler called that pointed lower unit the "Hydro-Dart". A lot of people I know "affectionately" call it the "Stump-Stabber.

 

[sdunt]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

Chrysler called that pointed lower unit the "Hydro-Dart". A lot of people I know "affectionately" call it the "Stump-Stabber.

Yes, and the crazy thing is that you can get after market glue on's for your 'modern' I/O to put that "stump stabber" point on the I/O as well.

http://www.land-and-sea.com/marine/nose-cones/nose_cones.htm

 

[sdunt]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

Older chryslers puddle drain systems did not recirculate fuel for a re burn and just dumped it back in the lake through the kingpin and the motor leg.

it is interesting that I have a 1978 45HP Model 457H8J Serial # 2982 and it is plumbed to recirculate the 'puddle drains' back to the top of the block and I assume into the cylinder..

How much fuel actually accumulates in your bottle? How does one 'green-ly' dispose of that? I was warned NOT to dump it back into the fuel tank because it contains carbon and metal from the engine..

 

[sdunt]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

I wanted to sent this info to you, but not on the restoration forum thread. So here goes.. all of this is a direct quote from Franz:

Puddle Drains

There is one maintenance issue that is overlooked by most Chrysler owner's because they are not aware of it: At idle, a motor does not burn all the fuel that goes into the cylinders and it "puddles" in the cylinder. This fuel has to get out of the cylinder or it will load up the engine and make it run rough and eventually make it not run at all. On the older motors this fuel was just dumped down the motor leg but it was more environmentally friendly (not to mention efficient) to recycle it so that this excess fuel went back into the motor. This system known as the puddle drain system has to have a one-way valve in it so as to pull the fuel from the cylinder at the proper time. This excess fuel that has been in the combustion chamber picks up contaminants such as small chunks of carbon. These contaminants have to be filtered out some way so that the one-way valves do not clog up so there are screens in front of the valves. All these contaminates build up over time and can clog the screens blocking the puddle drain system and leaving the excess fuel in the cylinders causing the motor to load up.

There is no set maintenance interval for cleaning these screens as many factors contribute to the formation of carbon which causes them to clog. Some of the factors include:
Using inferior oil in the gas
Using a prop with too much pitch so that the engine is lugging
Improper timing
Extended trolling time
Running without a thermostat or thermostat opening too soon.

The puddle drain covers are located on the starboard side of the block and usually extend over 2 cylinders (3 on a 3 cylinder). They are not hard to remove (except some 35-55 HP which have slotted screws in the lower part of the cover) but you will have to remove some other things to get to them. Suffice it to say, if you own a Chrysler outboard and the bolts have never been removed from the puddle drains, DO IT! If you are having trouble with your engine loading up, DO IT! Sometimes the screens can be cleaned but they may be coated with carbon making that difficult. You will need gaskets when you do this so just get new screens at the same time. They are about 65 cents and pop out with a knife or pick and the new ones are pressed in with your thumb. The whole job can be done for less than $10. on any motor and can make the difference between night and day. Now the disclaimer: It's possible you won't find anything in the screens but you will have the satisfaction of knowing that is not the problem. (LOL)

 

[byacey]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

Does it look anything like this? This is a 1965 model, At this point it still carried the West Bend name. Chrysler bought West Bend in '65, so this is probably one of the last ones made as West bend.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/byacey/West Bend/starboardview.jpg

 

[sdunt]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

so this is probably one of the last ones made as West bend.

WHERE did you get those decals?? I have exactly the same motor, but no marking on the hood. Did you create them yourself? I do have decal paper, but never got a look to the lettering I liked..

 

[byacey]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

Those aren't decals, plastic lettering affixed to the cowl right from the factory.
Have a look here; there's more pictures in the thread.
http://www.themarinedoctor.com/cgi-bin//YaBB.pl?num=1176129000/0#0

 

[byacey]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

My parts manual shows the same style hood / cowl as pictured on my 45HP. If yours is the same it's either a 1965 or 1966 model.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

The 'Chrysler" emblems on each side are actually a multiple piece plastic plate. The letters are attached onto the plate individually, there are a few that are loose and one has a piece missing.
The pics in the above like give a better view, the power head looks like mine as does the pan area.
The lower unit on that motor is different as mine has the pointed bearing housing and a thinner mid section. The only part that really don't match is that this motor has a very pronounce front aluminum plate that covers a good part of the front of the cover.

 

[byacey]

Re: Chrysler 50 HP early 60's?

If yours is branded Chrysler, then I would be inclined to believe it's a 1966 model year. The West Bend labels on mine are as you described, a piece of molded plastic held on by a couple of plastic posts each that protrude through holes in the motor cowl. These are held on by some spring clips. On mine "West" is one molded piece, and "Bend" is a seperate molded piece, as well as the "450" seperate as well.