Multiple Question on my first boat...

I bought my first boat this past fall, and have lots of work to do to get it where I want it for this upcoming season. While I am fairly knowledgeable around a car, I am not at all that familiar with outboard parts.

The boat is a 1979 ProCraft 1560 with an aftermarket Evinrude 90 VRO V4 (unsure of the year and am unable to locate serial number, help??). I am unsure if this boat/engine has a trim kit, there is a hydrolic ram that appears to be capable of lifting the engine, but no wires or leads where it could get power and no motor. Is this a workable trim ram or is it something else??


Next question, and this has been baffling me for awhile now, what is this plug for. It is on the bow of my boat, next to the panel where my trolling motor gets plugged into. As you can see, it has two prongs in it, and says do not use for a trolling motor, so what the heck can I use it for. I have not gotten around to test it for voltage.


Now, I am not sure if this engine has an alternator, or the marine equivalent. There is only one set of wires that lead to/from my single battery responsible for starting the engine. Here are a few pictures of the engine with the cover off. While I am asking about this motor, it ran fine for me when I bought this boat (save issues firing which I believe are due to a battery issue not having enough cranking amps), but I was unable to get it to get it up to higher rpms. It would run smoothly, just not wind up when I pushed down the throttle. Any suggestions??
See next post about the left side view and a top view...

Re: Multiple Question on my first boat...



While I was taking these pictures, I noticed a cut line near a small red button. I know that if it is red, it is usually of importance.... Any idea what this is and what the wire is for??


I have many more questions, but this is all of the pictures that I have for the time being. Will be working more on Monday, and will probably be looking for some more input then. Any responses that I get I thank you in advance. Happy Fishing.

Re: Multiple Question on my first boat...

First picture, your trim+tilt ram. Wires should be around there somewhere, or they go up through the motor, under the hood. I'm not familiar with that specific motor.

Second picture, that looks like a power plug. I couldn't tell you if that's power into the panel, or power out of the panel, but a volt meter will probably help you.

The cut wire and button I'm unsure of, it almost looks like something that was added by the owner, not an original part. Is it possible the cut wire went to the other side of that button switch?

As far as no power up high; if that motor previously ran OK on the boat (correct prop, etc..) then my first guess would be a carburetor issue, probably dirty from old fuel and in need of cleaning. It also doesn't hurt to check the compression to make sure you don't have a weak cylinder.