Hello from Los Angeles. Here are some pics of my new (well, to me at least) Chrysler 63HB, manufactured in 1971 and originally sold to a Mr. Howard E. Morgan of Torrance, CA on 6-14-73 (according to the tag inside the cowling).
The dealer was Osborns, of Lake San Antonio in Bradley, CA - just north of Paso Robles. Lake San Antonio is still there, but not Osborns (or at least, no trace of them on the 'net).
I put a "Dinghy wanted" ad on CraigsList, and I got this engine when I bought the dinghy. The owners said they had not used it in the 8 years that they have had it. They also gave me a Chrysler gas tank, which appears to be of the same era. It has a few gallons of gas in there- can you imagine that? Eight year-old gas! What the heck do I do with that?
I took off the top cover of the fuel pump, and it looked very clean and dry in there. I have yet to check the carb, but judging from this part of the fuel pump at least, I'm thinking that the last owners of this engine thoughtfully drained the gas before storage!
Three minor problems I have discovered so far:
1) The twist throttle handle seems to bind halfway through its travel. Or maybe they all do that, so you don't over-rev too quickly? Everything that is visible in the pic below seems fine, so I think the binding is coming from the mechanism as it snakes under the flywheel. I may have to pull off the flywheel, which I dread- it does not look like it was ever off so removing it by the book (tapping a hammer on the loosened nut while prying upward on a large screwdriver wedged between the flywheel and top of power head at the rear of the engine) won't be fun.
2) Another problem is the pull cord- it worked fine for about 10 pulls or so as I was checking the engine, but now it no longer recoils back unless I get my fingers on the white plastic/nylon rope pulley and rotate it manually. It feels as if the grease on the axle of the rope pulley has turned into rubber cement! I can tell from the wear on the screws holding that pulley assembly that it has been worked on a lot- you can see one of the screws on the right side of the pic. So maybe this is a chronic problem, either with this motor or this model line.
3) My third problem is that the outboard is very hard to turn or pivot. I put a little light oil on the top and bottom areas where the swivel bracket meets the transom clamp bracket, but that didn't help. I know I am supposed to use marine grease, but I don't see how I can get grease in there.
Any comments on anything I have mentioned (or, on anything I haven't mentioned but need to know!) are welcomed.
The dealer was Osborns, of Lake San Antonio in Bradley, CA - just north of Paso Robles. Lake San Antonio is still there, but not Osborns (or at least, no trace of them on the 'net).
I put a "Dinghy wanted" ad on CraigsList, and I got this engine when I bought the dinghy. The owners said they had not used it in the 8 years that they have had it. They also gave me a Chrysler gas tank, which appears to be of the same era. It has a few gallons of gas in there- can you imagine that? Eight year-old gas! What the heck do I do with that?
I took off the top cover of the fuel pump, and it looked very clean and dry in there. I have yet to check the carb, but judging from this part of the fuel pump at least, I'm thinking that the last owners of this engine thoughtfully drained the gas before storage!
Three minor problems I have discovered so far:
1) The twist throttle handle seems to bind halfway through its travel. Or maybe they all do that, so you don't over-rev too quickly? Everything that is visible in the pic below seems fine, so I think the binding is coming from the mechanism as it snakes under the flywheel. I may have to pull off the flywheel, which I dread- it does not look like it was ever off so removing it by the book (tapping a hammer on the loosened nut while prying upward on a large screwdriver wedged between the flywheel and top of power head at the rear of the engine) won't be fun.
2) Another problem is the pull cord- it worked fine for about 10 pulls or so as I was checking the engine, but now it no longer recoils back unless I get my fingers on the white plastic/nylon rope pulley and rotate it manually. It feels as if the grease on the axle of the rope pulley has turned into rubber cement! I can tell from the wear on the screws holding that pulley assembly that it has been worked on a lot- you can see one of the screws on the right side of the pic. So maybe this is a chronic problem, either with this motor or this model line.
3) My third problem is that the outboard is very hard to turn or pivot. I put a little light oil on the top and bottom areas where the swivel bracket meets the transom clamp bracket, but that didn't help. I know I am supposed to use marine grease, but I don't see how I can get grease in there.
Any comments on anything I have mentioned (or, on anything I haven't mentioned but need to know!) are welcomed.
