Your opinion on Evinrude 55 HP 1969

[asnore]

Looks like I have few parts missing - one gear from reverse drive, and some parts from fuel pump assambly. As it is 2 cycle engine I would like to know if it is worth restoring, is it reliable? Looks like powerhead is in good condition, but i haven't started it yet.Thx,And

[rickdb1boat]

Check the compression first. If the engine is solid, I would certainly say that it's worth repairing. Fuel pump is no big deal. Lower unit gears are available and with a Manual, you could fix it yourself and have a good motor. Has the engine sat for a long time?

[ledgefinder]

It is a 3cylinder? If it's similar to the US model, there are two components that are sometimes tricky to replace - so you might want to evaluate them before sinking much time & energy into it. They are the hydro-electric shift lower unit, and the ignition amplifier. You can find quite a bit of discussion on evaluating and repairing both if you search the archives here. The 1969-72 V4s (85/100/115 and 125hp) use the same design ignition and lower unit, so search them also.

[rodbolt]

hello they were state of the art in 69. if you run one carry oars. buy a kicker and take your cell phone. the shift wires are over 120 dollars the amplifier is almost 300 the dist cap is almost 140 I think the rotor is about 30. I think you can still buy the engine harness for about 100. all figures are approximate in us dollars. if your looking for a project I have a few and at least get one a bit newer that had a more reliable drive and electrics. try to find a fresh water mid seventies to mid eighties 70 hp jonnyrude. that was probably the best engine ever. good luck and keep posting

[rickdb1boat]

Yeah, Rodbolt is right. Junk it!!!

[rolmops]

I'm with Rodbolt

[DJ]

Stay away. I owned one, it never gave me any trouble, but that was 20 years ago.The electric shift can be troublesome and expensive to repair. There are better engines out there.

[ledgefinder]

Wow - tough crowd today...If you're getting it free/cheap & are looking for a project, I'd go for it. Those were an advanced engine in their time (loopers), and carefully designed - a few years later, OMC was pulling 75hp out of the same design & displacement. If the gearbox is apart, finding a replacement or parts to rebuild what you've got is what'd worry me the most. Lots of those gearboxes come up on eBay (1969-72 55/60/65hp triple, electric shift will bolt up, I think), but international shipping may be expensive. That motor requires a battery to for the ignition to produce spark (it's not self-energized). If you hook the battery up backwards, you generally will instantly destroy the ignition amplifier, so be careful. For more detailed discussion, search the archives here.

[ledgefinder]

If it's your first boat motor project, a 33-40hp Evinrude/Johnson twin, with single carb and mechanical gearbox, might be the simplest starting place in roughly the same power range. 1959-1972(3?) had a regular fuel pump, coil magneto ignition, full needle bearings, thermostat, good corrosion control, can be carried one-handed, and at least in the US are available for next to nothing - great motors!

[asnore]

I am getting it free, and maybe I will get some more gearbox parts for free too. My only (rather sad) experience with outboards is with russian two stroke engines, Neptun 23 and Vihr 25, but this looks not much complex So probably I will try to restore it, anyway, thanks for advices.