1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

[flatheadlakemonster]

Hello all!
I am new to the outboard motor world, (been sailing and wakeboarding for years)and i have a few questions. I have done some searching on the forums, and you guys have some really great suggestions and information for noobs!

I was recently given a 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 hp and a 14" TideRunner(Boston Whaler knock-off) to put together. The TR originally was used in Puget sound in WA, and was supposedly a sound boat for those kids of waters. Flathead Lake in MT should pose no problem! It was originally equipped with a center helm and a 40 hp outboard. The boat was stolen from the original owner's dock and the helm and motor was stolen, and the boat was recovered adrift.

My ultimate goal would be to either locate or fabricate another helm for it and set up the OB for remote operation. Am I wasting my time with this? I am just looking to use it as a runabout and small fishing boat, nothing fancy.

I have been checking out a few of the threads on steering, and I have fabrication ability, I just don't konw if the motor itself would be able to be operated remotely.

Also, I have no idea what condition the motor itself is in. I have an owners and technical manual in the mail, and I will start going through them soon. Any suggestions on where to start? I am assuming carb cleaning, plugs, water pemp etc. Also at one point in time someone painted the thing forest green with a brush, so I think I will be blasting and painting as much as I can back to the original metallic blue, which is a pretty cool color, BTW.

I am mechanically inclined, and work on cars for a living, but this is my first foray into 2-strokes. I have never even had a 2-stroke dirt bike! I am pretty excited about the whole project, as it is going to give me something to squeeze in this winter between snowbarding and duck hunting!

Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer some advice, I am looking forward to getting started!!

Aeron

 

[wbeaton]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

The motor can use remote controls. Read the FAQ "Awakening a sleeping outboard".

When you are ready to start on the motor, check the coils first as the original ones have a 100% failure rate. Check compression and the lower unit oil for water intrusion. Replace the impeller and spark plugs. Clean and set the points. Then try to run it.

Fuel mix is 24:1 with 87 octane gas to TC-W3 outboard oil. Synthetic oil will smokeless and is biodegradeable.

 

[flatheadlakemonster]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

Thanks man! I must have missed that one. I figure that I am going to just drain and refill the lower unit oil from the get go.

Also does anyone know where to get the original light blue metallic paint? Or is everyone just sourcing it locally? This site seems like a lot of help!

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

Your motor was designed for use with a pulley/cable type steering system. Although the cable, pulleys, springs, etc. can still be found for these systems, the drum type steering wheels required for them are hard to obtain.

The good news is that you can easily set up a modern push/pull cable type steering system. A kit with the required steering wheel and a cable of the proper length for your boat can be puchased for about $120. There are a variety of ways to secure the casing of the cable, so that the internal push/pull cable will work properly, but I prefer a "torque tube" type converter. See the link below for an example of one manufacturer's offering (see Universal Engine Connection Kit):

http://www.ezyglide.com/


I also recommend that you buy an OEM service manual as soon as possible. They are available here at iboats, and from other sources. With your background in auto repair/servicing, you should be fine in doing just about anything to this motor.

 

[flatheadlakemonster]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

Thanks for the steering pointers! I took the carb off tonight, and it seems that it must have been serviced fairly recently, and by recently I mean maybe in the last 10 years. the rubber gaskets seem okay, but it still has a cork float in it. I will be overhauling the whole thing, and am looking for a carb kit as I type.

I unscrewed the lower unit lube drain just to see what I could see. I got very little lube out of it, but I am not sure how thick that stuff is, so maybe I was a bit impatient. I removed the upper oval inspection plate(?) that was held on by 2 screws, and it seems dry inside. I am guessing that when you fill it from the bottom it should come up to that level?

I think it has been some time since this motor has run, but it seems to have goo compression when I pull the cord(my tester is at work)I will be testing that this weekend.

I will be looking for a service manual if I don't get one with the manuals that are being sent to me. I am getting more excited about working on this guy this winter! The more I tinker with it, the more I want to strip it down to peices, bead blast everything and to a complete restoration on it!

 

[freddyray21]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

I unscrewed the lower unit lube drain just to see what I could see. I got very little lube out of it, but I am not sure how thick that stuff is, so maybe I was a bit impatient. I removed the upper oval inspection plate(?) that was held on by 2 screws, and it seems dry inside. I am guessing that when you fill it from the bottom it should come up to that level?

it should be dry in there as no lube should be in there. There are two flathead screws on the lower unit. One down by the prop shaft and the other higher up on the same side. You fill the bottom one until it comes out the top one. If you have lube coming out of the oval inspection plate you have a problem. Find the top screw and loosen it. It will release a vacuum and help get the lube out of the lower hole.

 

[flatheadlakemonster]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

Well then that explains it! Yeah, for some reason I thought it should go up to the inspection plate. I must have missed the upper fill screw. That makes me feel better, as I have heard that motors stored iwth no lube is bad new bears. Some idiot painted this thing witha brush at one point in time, so it may very well have been painted over. I am golfing tonight, so I am sure I won't work on it, but I will find the upper screw soon.

 

[wbeaton]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

The lower unit oil is just plain old marine grade 80-90W gear oil. Keep an eye on the oil after your first few outings. Those seals probably leak by now.

You can get the original style paint from nymarine.ca.

 

[flatheadlakemonster]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

Thanks for the link! I recieved the original owners manual as well as some service records for it on friday, I have thumbed through most of them, but I defintely will be ordering a factory service manual. The ironic part is that the original purchaser in 1957 and I have the same last name! I think it is fate.

 

[asdasc]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

I got a 1959 version of the same motor about 4 weeks ago, and have been going thru much of what you are. It is a blast. The folks on here are VERY helpful, and seem to know EVERYTHING. Mine had some issues, but I am getting thru them. These guys are easy to work on, if you can get the screws and bolts out ok. I just got mine running on the boat and it is very satisfying indeed knowing that I got a 50 year old motor running great. I still have some work to do, but will get it done. With my work, I can really only mess with it on weekends.

By the way, I have mine hooked to a helm station that is pretty crude, but works great with a steering wheel, gear shifter and throttle. I think I have a picture of it in my thread on rebuilding the lower unit. Click on my ASDASC name and it will pull up all my posts and bring you to it.

Attach some pictures, I love em! I hope you find this hobby/need satisfying as I do. I suddenly am bitten by it, and people seem pretty willing to part with their old motors if they are going to someone willing to get them running and use them. I suddenly find myself with about 5 old motors, all of which will be lovingly de-bugged and gotten running. I have a cottage on a small 60'x100' island in the middle of muscamoot bay in Michigan, and call it Tortuga Island. I am now building up my 'navy' which includes 5 small boats for various purposes.

Have fun, and keep us posted on your progress. By the way, a minor peice of advice is to 'don't fix it if it ain't broken.' All of my motors will be used on a regular basis. They seem very reliable and capable as 'daily drivers', so why make it a showpeice? There are much more interesting motors that don't run as well for that.

Enjoy!

 

[flatheadlakemonster]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

Thanks for the encouragement! I ordered my serivce manual tonight, so that is on it's way!

I know what you mean about getting the screws out. Coming from an automotive background, I was amazed to see that almost EVERY fastener on this thing was a flat head screw!! Up until now, the only flathead screws I encounter is when I remove lightswitch covers to paint the walls!!

I understand when you say, if it ain't broke don't fix it, but that is just my nature, I am going to tear this whole thing down and rebuild it, so that I know how everything works on it. It will be used on Flathead Lake, which is the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi river, so if something happens out on the water, I want to know what it might be, and how it works and how to fix it. Plus the paint on it looks horrible. It won't be a show motor, but at least it is going to look good! I will get some pics up tonight if I can.

BTW, I check out your barge pics, and that lawn chair helm friggin rules!! Where did you get your wheel and throttle setup?

Also, I am sure the carb is going to need to be rebuilt, and I have already disassembled it, but I am not finding any carb rebuild kits with a new float. I would assums that I need to replace it, as it seems to be really old cork of some kind, and I have heard I need to replace it with a plastic one. Am I not looking hard enough? The kits with floats seem to start for the motors in the 1960s?

 

[rjezuit]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

laingsoutboards.com has floats and rebuild kits. Rick

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

I have just changed the steering on my boat from cable and pulley because I have a new motor which would need some attachments to adapt the pulley system, and had a single wire system that someone gave me.
If you are OK with a a cable and pulley set-up, send me a PM with your address and I'll box up the wheel and the "complicated " parts e.g....springs, clamps etc.
You should be able to get the cable locally.

Here's another link for parts
http://www.discount-marine-parts.com/index.html

 

[flatheadlakemonster]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

PM Sent!

You guys seriously rule!

 

[asdasc]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

Thanks for the comments on the lawn chair helm. My dad wanted credit for the lawn chair because he donated it.

The steering set up and gear shifter came with the boat and I pulled them off and reinstalled them. I think the shifter is Evinrude branded and you could probably find an old one on eBay. The steering assembly was made by teleflex. New ones are available, but they are expensive. Find an old parts boat as most of these types of things are pretty universal. Most big older marinas will have an area 'out back' where old boats go to die and if you talk to the service guy he is pretty willing to give up parts like this free or cheap.

We are designing a new helm now that will have pull out steps in it because everywher we go has steel seawalls 4-5 feet above water level. I will post pictures when it is done.

 

[flatheadlakemonster]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

Most big older marinas will have an area 'out back' where old boats go to die and if you talk to the service guy he is pretty willing to give up parts like this free or cheap.

Yeah I was going to start lurking around the local boat dealers and cruise up to the lake to see what I can see. I figured that there are always old parts "lying around" those places. I know this is the case with the stuff I usually deal with, so boats can't be much different.....

Tim up above has also generously offered to send me some old steering gear, so I will hopefully be using that also, and then just figuring out the rest.

I received my service manual tonight, so I will probably start diving into the motor some more this weekend...

 

[skred]

Re: 1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18 questions...

Just found this site. Great news for me. I just acquired a 1957 Fastwin 18 from a widow in Parry Sound, Ontario. Her husband was the original owner. He was fastidious about storing it properly each year, and the motor seemed in very good condition. However, the pull start handle was frozen to the cowling, so when I pulled it, the thing came away, but left 1/2 of the handle still stuck to the cowl. I freed it up, and now have a 2-piece starter handle. Need to replace that. I haven't run the motor yet, but the plugs were out when I got it, and the cylinders well-oiled. On re-inserting the plugs, I discovered the lower plug hole was stripped. I guess a helicoil is in order there. I had planned on using the motor on a classic 13 foot Whaler Sport, but found a nice Whaler with a much newer engine. I guess I'll sell the Fastwin. I have the original tank, hoses, etc, also. I am a member of Continuous Wave.com - the Whaler owners' website, and they have a classified section. Does this site have the same facility? I'd probably sell the stuff for $150 or so...
Skred (Dennis)