Saved from the Scrapper!

[Chinewalker]

My wife called me yesterday from the local metal scrapyard to let me know they had a couple of motors on their "mixed metal" pile. They deal primarily in "clean" metals, so a complete motor is no good to them as it is considered "mixed" (steel, aluminum, copper, etc.). So, to make a long story short, I now own three more motors....

A 1953 Sa King 5hp, with neutral. Turns over with good compression! I popped the recoil off and accessed the flywheel cover plate to note that it has new style coils, too! I don't think it'll take much to get this one running.

1951 Sea King 5hp. Stuck solid, but the tank is in better shape than the '53, so I may swap some parts around. Lower unit is intact, too and I have some similar parts motors, so it may yet live again.

1958 Firestone (by Scott Atwater) 3.6hp. Missing the rewind, but turns over with compression.

I knew I married her for a reason...

- Scott

 

[jasper60103]

Re: Saved from the Scrapper!

I envy you guys that are handy. Also, having a wife that can spot bargain is an asset too! Have fun.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Saved from the Scrapper!

Bravo! I'm sure at least one of those three will get a new lease on life.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Saved from the Scrapper!

you've got one good woman!!!!!!!

 

[lbentz]

Re: Saved from the Scrapper!

Ahhhhh yes. Been there, done that. I have a 1946 Evinrude Zephyr, that I prevented from going to the scrapper too. Turns out, it's number 00066 of the 4404 model. Instead of the sheetmetal tank, it has a cast aluminum tank, so no dings here. I modified the rewind starter, with parts off of a 1954Johnson 5 1/2, so the rewind works great. I'm thinking about restoring it again and making it much nicer, but as it is now, it runs like a scalded owl. This is my first motor and has been in my posession for 16 years now.

As far as yours go, I bet there is a good chance that you could get all three of them running. The one that is stuck, may not need a whole lot to free it up. I would fill up the cylinders with Marvel Mystery oil and let it sit all Winter.

Good Luck and have fun.

 

[wbeaton]

Re: Saved from the Scrapper!

Does she have a sister?

Nice find. I'm glad they found you.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Saved from the Scrapper!

Nope, no sisters. She's a good one, though...

If I really had an interest in the stuck Sea King I might take the time to get it unstuck, but as it happens, I have two similar motors with freed up powerheads, but the lower units are in pieces, so I'm just going to mix and match to try and get that one going.

I have no interest in the Firestone, so I may just take that one to the next AOMCI meet and see what I can get for it or trade it off. I just wanted to get them off the scrap dock and back in circulation...

- Scott

 

[steelespike]

Re: Saved from the Scrapper!

I don't do outboards anymore;gone over to bikes.Have about 100 some are special some just parts.Have a wife and 2 daughters that spot bikes for me.
Some guys are just lucky.

 

[bassboy1]

Re: Saved from the Scrapper!

Dang, a wife that not only will go to the scrapyard with you, but will go herself? I need to find me one of those......

 

[freddyray21]

Re: Saved from the Scrapper!

got one kinda from a scrap yard the other day. Guy who hauls off old appliances got it from one of his customers in payment. 1953 15 hp with pressure tank and good compression and a title. Put new coils in and it fired right up and pumped water. Impeller change this week then I am going to run it at the meet this weekend.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Saved from the Scrapper!

You lucky pup. I'd throw the Firestone on the pile for what we call the Eska toss at our Tejas AOMCI meets...winner gets a chicken dinner.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: Saved from the Scrapper!

I missed out on a couple of outboards at a scrap yard. We half to travel out of town to buy off of a scrap yard because non of the local scrap yards sell off the yard.

I've heard that a neighbor bought a pontoon trailer off of a scrap yard for $100 in decent shape, we all know how much those things go for.

I also missed out on a boat trailer and a complete motorcycle because I didn't have enough cash on me at the time a few months back at the out of town scrap yard. People around here drive cars and trucks accross the scales and scrap them out, it'll make you sick to see what people will scrap. People scrap aluminum boats just because the price of aluminum went up. I say let these things have a chance and give people a chance to buy a boat, boat motor, or whatever for a good deal before you send it to the scrapper.

Great find by the way. To bad that sea king isn't a few years newer I need a part or two .

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Saved from the Scrapper!

I don't do outboards anymore;gone over to bikes.Have about 100 some are special some just parts.Have a wife and 2 daughters that spot bikes for me.
Some guys are just lucky.

I seem to have done the opposite, I was really into bikes, and boats and outboards, now mostly just outboards. Now I look at the bikes as being in the way of more outboards.
Outboards take up less room, or at least I can get more outboards in the same place.

Anyhow, CW, nice finds. I just picked up a really clean looking Scotty from the early sixties that looks a lot like your S-A/Firestone there. It's stuck but pulling the head shows no rust or no scoring, so maybe it's just gummed up from years of sitting.
The one I found is super clean and came to me on a Sear Jon boat that was last registered in 1969.

I wasn't really into the old outboards until I stumbled across several nice older motors that I now use pretty regularly. I like running older motors for some reason, but I limit their running to freshwater only.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: Saved from the Scrapper!

Well, I spent a couple mornings just going through the 1953 Sea King 5hp this weekend. I started with the ignition, as there were new style coils, but it had old goobered up condensers and the points were pretty well worn. I replaced the points and condensers and got a good bright spark. I then pulled the cap off the carb and removed the fuel valve at the base to run some carb cleaner through. No evidence of gumming, so I didn't go much further. Reassembled the powerhead, poured in about 2 quarts of gas and it popped over on the 3rd pull!

Next, I dropped the gearcase to check the waterpump & unit over. No oil in the foot - not a good start. Everything inside looked "oily" so I am guessing it was drained and not refilled. No wear to speak of, so I put an impeller in and put it all back together.

I put it on the boat last evening and gave the 14-year old the "keys" to take it for a test run... Planed the 12-foot DuraNautic off without a problem! He ran it a good 20 minutes before coming in. Not bad for a piece of 'scrap metal'...

- Scott