Any old-engine gurus in N. / C. NJ? ('53 Evinrude Super Fastwin) *update! It runs!!*

Hey gang......me again.

I haven't written in ages; it's been a very busy year. Anyway: 1953 Evinrude Super Fastwin.....you can read my other posts if you want, but the upshot is, after rebuilding it, rebuilding the carb 2x, rebuilding the pressure tank, new hoses, etc., etc., etc.....

....I'll be darned if I can make this engine run.

Cough?....sure.
Kick?...yes.
Sputter for 4 seconds?.....often.

Oh.....and the occasional "snapping backfire", too.

But run? Sustained ignition? Nope.

Choke on....choke off. Needles at various settings....whatever. Nothing but burst of life, followed by....nothing.

It wants to run (I think), but it won't.

Any motorheads in NJ want to show me what I'm obviously missing? I'll buy the drinks & dinner. I'll wash your truck. I'll do just about anything.

Re: Any old-engine gurus in N. / C. NJ? ('53 Evinrude Super Fastwin)

Re: Any old-engine gurus in N. / C. NJ? ('53 Evinrude Super Fastwin)

Eruika!

Sometimes you have an epiphany

Sometimes life humbles you

Sometimes you just feel like an garden-variety idiot.

I haven't decided which camp I'm in yet, but I'm leaning towards 'idiot'...

I verified gaps & sparks.....all good. And of course there's air. This has to be a fuel issue. So for the third time (or is it the 4th?) I pulled the carb & headed to the workbench.

"What haven't I tried yet?"

I put the sintered fuel filter to my lips, covered the other end with my thumb & blew.

solid as a rock.

If air molecules can't get through, I can't expect fuel to pass!!

I reassembled everything, sans filter (not a good practice, I know....but still)....hooked up the tank, pumped the pressure, set the low needle to 1 turn, high to 1.5, pulled out the choke and gave her a yank.

Fired on the first yank & ran perfectly until I shut her down.

Feelin' kinda dumb (all this angst and it was a simple filter???), but I'm doin' the happy dance right now! Grandma's engine lives to push another boat! (which I don't own one of....but now that there's a reason, I may just build one!)

Thanks for reading!

Re: Any old-engine gurus in N. / C. NJ? ('53 Evinrude Super Fastwin) *update! It runs

you have been through alot with the old motor!!! glad to hear you figured it out. dont run it to much without a filter, whether you clean the existing one ( some say it cant be done), or omit it and run an inline filter.

Re: Any old-engine gurus in N. / C. NJ? ('53 Evinrude Super Fastwin) *update! It runs

Indeed, a lot....but I've learned a ton! It's been a heck of a lot of fun, too.

A new sintered filter is on order.

Re: Any old-engine gurus in N. / C. NJ? ('53 Evinrude Super Fastwin) *update! It runs

order the gasket as well....its cheap insurance !

Re: Any old-engine gurus in N. / C. NJ? ('53 Evinrude Super Fastwin) *update! It runs

You're right.....and I did!

Re: Any old-engine gurus in N. / C. NJ? ('53 Evinrude Super Fastwin) *update! It runs

just got finished looking at your photobucket album.......didnt realize you went that far with the disassembly/resto!! you sure did learn alot!!

Re: Any old-engine gurus in N. / C. NJ? ('53 Evinrude Super Fastwin) *update! It runs

The only thing I didn't do was split open the crank. Although the pistons were frozen when I got it, a little PB and some time and it finally spun cleanly and I have great compression. As long as the bearings aren't screaming (and they're not), I think I was right to leave the crank case closed.

If I ever need to split it, though....no huge deal.

everything else was a 100% teardown. The lower was a disaster.

Re: Any old-engine gurus in N. / C. NJ? ('53 Evinrude Super Fastwin) *update! It runs

guess what....?? you are now the old-engine guru in N./C.NJ that you were looking for!!

Re: Any old-engine gurus in N. / C. NJ? ('53 Evinrude Super Fastwin) *update! It runs

I'm not ready to step up & accept that award just yet, but getting this thing running has most certainly been a learning experience.

And having overlooked this silly filter, I've checked & re-checked everything about ten times. I feel like I know this engine inside & out, up & back.

And not to get smug about it, but is there really that much difference between smaller (3hp & up) and larger (say, to about 60hp) engines of this vintage (to about mid- '70s)? I'm thinking "maybe not so much"....

So, yeah....maybe I can be the "old-engine" guru one day.

or perhaps just the "old" engine guru.