1958 Evinrude 10hp Sportwin water tube length?

[Milemaker13]

Hey Gang,
Hoping someone knows old evinrudes pretty well. I just bought a used long shaft lower unit for my '58 Sportwin 10 hp, and the seller included a water tube. I got it together but it seems like the tube is a little short. It does fit into both top and bottom grommets, but I am afraid it could slip out during operation. Does anyone know the correct tube length?

More to the point, how is the water tube supposed to fit? What actually locates it in place? Like I said, this one barely reaches between the two grommets.

It was fairly difficult to assemble the lower unit to the motor. Does anyone have any assembly tips?

 

[HighTrim]

Re: 1958 Evinrude 10hp Sportwin water tube length?

Assemble the tube in the upper grommet first. Shift into forward gear to get the coupler out of the way. Grease the water line and the grommet to allow it to slide in smoothly. Slide the gearcase up, lining up the grommet and tube. If it does not go all the way up, slowly turn the prop while pushing up until it bottoms out. Install the bolts. Now shift back into neutral while guiding the shift rod into the coupler, ensuring the detent is aligned perfectly with the bottom hole. Install bolt and you are all done.

Pull plug wires before doing this, dont want it accidentally starting while turning prop in gear. Stranger things have happened.

Regarding lenght, I cannot remember off hand. Im sure I have one I could measure. Does it go into the grommet an inch or so on either end?

 

[Milemaker13]

Re: 1958 Evinrude 10hp Sportwin water tube length?

It doesn't seem like an inch or so. More like less than 1/2" each side. Reading a little more online, it seems that maybe the long shaft unit uses a longer, flared grommet on the bottom. That could help a little.

The tube I received wasn't bent quite right. I had to tweek it some to get it to line up at all. My original one has a kinda twist in the offset where it snakes around the shift rod. The longer one is just a straight offset.

I should mention that my motor is originally a short shaft (15") and I am converting it to a long shaft (20").

Two more questions- Is the impeller key just a pin? I can't remember, but this one has a pin with a key head. The new impeller didn't fit on this key/pin.

Second, is the drive shaft supposed to be able to be pulled up? I think I read that it is splined just like the top.

 

[Milemaker13]

Re: 1958 Evinrude 10hp Sportwin water tube length?

Good morning! So I think Im going to try fabricating a new tube today at work. Seems simple enough right? I have the original short tube, so Ill copy that as close as I can but leave it like 7 or 8 inches longer. Then Ill pull the other back out and trim so its just a little longer. What do you think?

 

[HighTrim]

Re: 1958 Evinrude 10hp Sportwin water tube length?

Good morning! So I think Im going to try fabricating a new tube today at work. Seems simple enough right? I have the original short tube, so Ill copy that as close as I can but leave it like 7 or 8 inches longer. Then Ill pull the other back out and trim so its just a little longer. What do you think?

Thats what I would do. Should be easy enough to make. Round the edges, and no burrs. YOu dont want it catching when installing restricting water flow.

 

[lindy46]

Re: 1958 Evinrude 10hp Sportwin water tube length?

Long shaft tube should be 5" longer than a short shaft tube.

 

[Milemaker13]

Re: 1958 Evinrude 10hp Sportwin water tube length?

Thank you. I made a new tube easy as pie. The one supplied was about 1- 1/2 " short. Can you believe that? Just barely fit between the gromets. Also, I ordered the longer grommet that I think is proper for the longer shaft motor. Only like $2, so we'll see.

I got it all assembled and fired it up. All was looking good until I shifted it into gear. Nothing. What? Yup, nothing.

I'm going to start a new thread about it. Please take at look and tell me if you have any ideas. I appreciate any and all comments. Thanks guys-