1979 chrysler 55 HP oil plug?

[dbmstr124]

I am thinking about picking up a 1979 beachcomber with a 1979 55 HP Chrysler on it. I have never worked on a chrysler and after a few taps on the floats of the carbs and a jump, I got the engine running. It spit out water and the powerhead was cool to the touch, the cylinder walls however were not. I saw a "plug", or so it looked like on top of the cylinders and was wondering if these outboards take a bit of oil in there? It ran good, but I almost heard a slight knocking. Maybe no oil at all and just running rough. I did a compression test and both cylinders were around 70 psig and the plugs have no oil on them. I am running a 35:1 mixture in it. Please help if you know these engines. Thank you
I can get all this and the boat is in very good shape, just needs a few things replaced, but the hull doesn't even have a scratch on it. All this for $300 sounds like a good deal right???

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: 1979 chrysler 55 HP oil plug?

No oil goes into any Chrysler outboard except the TCW-3 oil mixed with the gasoline and the lower unit lube. 35 to 1 won't hurt it but will foul plugs a little quicker than the 50 to 1 mix recommended by the manufacturer.

Compression is a little low but may come up a little after some running--if the engine has been sitting idle for a period of time--- NEW, the engine was supposed to have 150-165 psi. Accounting for age and gauge variation, anything over 100 would be OK.

Is it a good deal? Depends on your outlook. Some people are lucky and can pick up that kind of rig for free. others need to pay. At 300, with the hull in the condition you describe, you are not getting hurt though. But, you may need to put up to a couple hundred more to get the engine into proper condition; it is old. ---that is if you don't mind doing the work yourself. They tend to be very easy to work on and if treated with respect, very reliable. I have a 69 (I bought it new as end of year left over stock for 600 bucks) that just needed rebuilding this year. And believe me, It has a LOT of hours on it. For example, I ran it for 8 days straight 10 hours a day on a trip up the Hudson River into Canada. I ran it 15 hours on a trip through Long Island Sound to Statue of liberty and then circumnavigating Manhattan Island. Never worried about it crapping out. Took me everywhere and got me home again. Yeah, I did a lot of maintenance on it, but it is still running.

 

[dbmstr124]

Re: 1979 chrysler 55 HP oil plug?

I appreciate your reply. It has been sitting for a very long time. I'm not sure if I'm going to pick it up yet. I mean obviously its supposed to get hot, but I didn't think it should get that hot. I couldn't hold my hand on it after about 30-45 seconds. I guess I'll dig into it a little more and see what the parts would cost for a new top end. Thanks alot again, if you know any prices, that would be helpful...thanks again.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: 1979 chrysler 55 HP oil plug?

Didn't notice in my first reply: You said Carbs. If it is the twin carb engine AND it is Magna Power II ignition then stay away from it. They failed regularly when new and parts are no longer available for it. Other ignition systems were ok and parts are still available. It will say Magna Power II on the cover (I think) if it is.

As far as the heat issue---Thermostat is 160 degrees. 135 will scald you so the engine should be uncomfortable to touch. As long as water dripped onto the engine does not boil then it is not running too hot.

Other issue is weak gears in the lower unit --if it is the one piece lower unit. They can still be found periodically on ebay but no new ones or nos (new, old stock) are available.

So now you have a little more info to make a decision. The question becomes: In the worst case scenario, where you would need to repower, is the boat alone worth 300 to you?

 

[dbmstr124]

Re: 1979 chrysler 55 HP oil plug?

Thank you again. That was some good information. It does have the Magna Power II ignition on it and it looks like the lower foot could come off from the "shaft" area of the engine if that makes sense to you? What makes the Magna power II a bad engine? I do have another boat that has a 1974 Evinrude 50 HP that was completely rebuilt and has less than a gallon of gas ran through it, both engines have a 31" shaft length. This could be swapped I suppose because the boat its on is smaller and I am putting a new floor in it. I am just going to turn these boats so maybe I could make a couple descent boats, or one really nice one. The problem is, is trying to get rid of just a boat hull. I cannot find junkyards or anything that take them. I guess I"ll keep an eye out on here and see what you think. I will try and get some pictures posted tomorrow. Thanks again.

 

[steelespike]

Re: 1979 chrysler 55 HP oil plug?

Thank you again. That was some good information. It does have the Magna Power II ignition on it and it looks like the lower foot could come off from the "shaft" area of the engine if that makes sense to you? What makes the Magna power II a bad engine? I do have another boat that has a 1974 Evinrude 50 HP that was completely rebuilt and has less than a gallon of gas ran through it, both engines have a 31" shaft length. This could be swapped I suppose because the boat its on is smaller and I am putting a new floor in it. I am just going to turn these boats so maybe I could make a couple descent boats, or one really nice one. The problem is, is trying to get rid of just a boat hull. I cannot find junkyards or anything that take them. I guess I"ll keep an eye out on here and see what you think. I will try and get some pictures posted tomorrow. Thanks again.

As stated the Magna power II failed regularly and here's the key; parts are no longer available.Chrysler hasn't been Chrysler since 84 and Force hasn't been around for close to 10 years.Merc stopped Force new part production several years ago.Force and Chrysler motors are a hard sell.For pretty straight forward reasons.If I was to buy a boat with a Chrysler/Force motor
it would be for the boat if it was exceptional.
There has been a pretty active Chrysler used parts activity on ebay.That may be the way to go with that motor.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: 1979 chrysler 55 HP oil plug?

It wasn't the engine that was bad. It was probably the best design Chrysler ever came up with. It was a big bore, packed crankcase, long con-rod design--best you could do with a straight crossflow engine. I wish they had made the 4 cylinder blocks like that.

The Magna Power II was a new generation capacitor discharge ignition design. It used the negative half of ac from the alternator to charge up one set of capacitors and used the positive half ac to charge the other set. Conceptually, a good idea. Practically, **** poor. The unit was so bad and failed so regularly, that after only a few years, Chrysler offered a retrofit kit under guarantee. These retrofit units are no longer available. So even if the engine runs well, stay away from it. Yeah, You can find retrofit parts but it is a hard hunt and you also need some luck. For example, I bought a junk 120 last year. real cheap-20 bucks-about what it is worth in scrap. When I disassembled it, the lower unit was good and lo and behold--it had a retrofit part (alternator mount and crank seal) on the powerhead. So: that part went into my stash --just in case--for the future.

Even if the engine runs well now, you must buy the boat under the assumption that somewhere down the line you will need to repower the boat -- and no one knows, the ignition may just be spiteful and run forever, or it may crap out tomorrow--

So again, the question is: Do you like the boat well enough to buy it in spite of the engine?

 

[mark1961]

Re: 1979 chrysler 55 HP oil plug?

Is it only the Magnapower II ign systems that are crap? I have recently bought a 79 20hp Chrysler with Magnapower ign (not Magnapower II), i havent even fitted it to a boat yet, is it likely to strand me when i do?

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: 1979 chrysler 55 HP oil plug?

Regular Motorola or Delta Magna Power systems were reliable. You are not likely to be stranded.

Out of all my Chrysler and Force engines, I have only had one Motorola CD box fail, and that happened in the driveway while I was testing a rebuilt engine. Believe it or not, with most electronics systems the maxim is that they tend to fail within the first hour of operating or after a long life cycle. In between, they tend to be very reliable.

But even if the unlikely happens, that engine can easily be retrofit to standard magneto ignition

Problem with MagII was that it was a new idea that was not adequately researched and designed. But, Hey! we all make "misteaks" sometimes.

 

[mark1961]

Re: 1979 chrysler 55 HP oil plug?

Thanks Frank, the black box at the rear of the engine has the following written on it....

"Magnapower"
"Prestolite"
"An Eltra Company"

not Motorola or Delta, is the system i have still okay?

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: 1979 chrysler 55 HP oil plug?

Yep! Prestolite was the ignition that they used from late Chrysler right through early Force. I like them. Prestolite made most of the starters, all of the flywheels (that I know of) and some of the magnetos with Wico making some also.

Chrysler outsourced ignition systems from Delta, Prestolite, and Motorola. With the exception of Magna Power II they were all no better or no worse that any other engine ignition systems in any engine brand at that time.

Some Chrysler racers converted to Mercury ignition because it gave a hotter spark and was better in a racing application.

 

[mark1961]

Re: 1979 chrysler 55 HP oil plug?

Thank you very much for addressing my concerns, i will now go ahead and fit it to my boat with much more confidence. Cheers!