Evinrude 5.5 Fisherman...should I buy?

[FishermanSE]

I have a chance to buy a Evinrude 5.5 Fisherman off craigslist for $100. The seller says it only needs a new water pump. He said he will clean the carb and make sure it runs. But if the water pump doesn't work then he can't run it for more than a few seconds without risking damage, right?

What should I ask him about or look at for before I buy it? Is there anything special I need to know about this unit? Are all the replacement parts I might need readily available and not prohibitively expensive?

He's going to get me a model number today. I have the serial number. He said it's from late 60's, but it looks like '64 was the last year it was manufactured.

Thanks for taking the time. This would be my first motor purchase, and if all goes well will go on my 12ft aluminum john boat.

View attachment 140528
View attachment 140529

 

[FishermanSE]

Re: Evinrude 5.5 Fisherman...should I buy?



Said it's a model 5520, 1960.

He just told me it won't fire up, maybe the points? But if it's not locked up, and you can feel compression when the rope is pulled, it can be fixed most likely, right?

I have a couple pics under the cover but they are bigger than 2mb, so can't upload them. It's not too easy to resize them from my phone either.

 

[erwinner]

Re: Evinrude 5.5 Fisherman...should I buy?

Depends on where you're at. Very little water around here so $100 is nothing for a project motor. But if you're close to lots of water, you could probably get one already running for about that money.

 

[bbstacker1]

Re: Evinrude 5.5 Fisherman...should I buy?

My first question is, can you work on the motor yourself or are you going to have a shop do the work? If you are going to have a shop do the work, I would walk away. If it will not fire up it could be any number of things, compression, fire or fuel related. Most of these things can be replaced pretty cheap and are available. If you have to replace the complete ignition (coils, tune up kit, wires and plugs), do a carb rebuild, new water pump impeller and reseal the foot you are looking at putting another $150-$200 in it if you do the work, I would guess add another $150-$200 if you have a shop work on it for you. While I like these old motors and they are fun to work on you can find much newer engines for the same money you might end up with in that old girl.