Need help identifying an Evinrude lightwin

I got an old Evinrude lightwin with a little fishing boat I bought. I can't find a model or seriel number anywhere on it. I found some numbers on the LH side of the engine - 202017 on the carb, 201889 on the block and 276722 on the head. It is different than any other lightwin I have seen pics of, it has a spring loaded fuel door with a rubber plug type cap and it only has one fuel knob on the front that goes from "off to 12" and it has a small primer button below the fuel knob? Any help would be appreciated!! I lubed the cylinders and cleaned out the glass fuel bowl and it started on a little spray of carb clean, but I don't want to do anymore until I know what I've got.

Re: Need help identifying an Evinrude lightwin

Can you post pictrures? And I assume there's no tag on the transom mount on the port side?

Re: Need help identifying an Evinrude lightwin

Well, a spring loaded fuel door would tell me that it's prior to 1953. The old Fleetwins were set up this way, before the 1954 full shift models came out. So, I would guess between 1946 - 1953. As far as the primer below the fuel knob goes, this was available on the Zephyrs all through the 1940's as well.

Before you fire it up, just make sure the lower unit has lube in it. The water pump may likely be one of those solid types, but don't take a chance. Just make sure you have the water level above where the lower unit bolts on, by at least 3 inches. You can also make sure your points are clean and gapped at .020 and your spark plugs are set at .030. You could probably do fine with a pair of Champion J6C's in it.

Re: Need help identifying an Evinrude lightwin

Here are a couple of pics of the motor.

Re: Need help identifying an Evinrude lightwin

That would most likely be a mid 40's 3.3hp "Sportwin" that someone painted and decaled as a lightwin. They do look similar but are very different.

Re: Need help identifying an Evinrude lightwin

Weird. It does say Sportwin on the front making it a 3.3hp (and that looks the most official) . It says lightwin on the back making it a 3hp and the logo and colors painted on the side are the '62 and '63 Evinrude colors... weird...

Re: Need help identifying an Evinrude lightwin

Well, that could very likely be an old Sportwin 3.3, because of the front plate in the left photo. Maybe the earliest Lightwin tanks would mount on the latest Sportwin, but the Lightwins have a screw in fuel cap, versus a flip up fuel cap door. The Fleetwins before 1954 had the flip up fuel cap door, like this motor has. It would be good to get a photo of the whole motor on a stand or something and also better photos of the powerhead. The best way to tell, is to look on the powerhead, for a quarter sized whelch plug and see if the model and serial number are there. I will have to say 1951 or prior Sportwin for now, because I just looked on ebay at 1947 - 51 Sportwins and everything matches what I see in the photos, with the exception of the Lightwin decal here.

Re: Need help identifying an Evinrude lightwin

Here are a few more pics. I don't know why someone would go to all the trouble of repainting and putting the wrong decals on it? I do have the side covers and the fuel shut off is on the front RH side.

Re: Need help identifying an Evinrude lightwin

Aren't you supposed to test it with the leg inside the barrel and not on the outside? I see a problem here!

Hey, are those blind cylinders? It looks like it. No head. Cool. I didn't know Evinrude made them at all. It must be a 3.3 then as all the 3's had normal heads as far as I know. Although I dont know much about the 3.3's.

Re: Need help identifying an Evinrude lightwin

I have the parts manual for the '46-'51 3.3hp Sportwin and it does look like it. It even has that spring thing on the starboard side. If you want the manual, PM me your email address and request.