Re: 1968 Evinrude 6 hp hard to start?
What is the condition of the coils? Cracked and deteriorated insulation will make them useless such as these.
If you replace them, align the coil heels with the machined surfaces on the stator plate, this is important, as FR has preached.
Use Champion J6C plugs, gapped to .030, set points to .020 with feeler gauge.
As far as the carb goes, did you remove the soft plug using a punch then thoroughally clean area beneath, blowing compressed air through it? A replacement plug would have been in your carb kit if you ordered one. This area is where the fuel/air mixture is controlled by the needle valve. Did you set the float parallel with the carb body? Basic adjustments for just about all older John-Rudes is 1 1/2 turns off seat for the low and 3/4 for the high speed needle valves. Is this how they were set?
The head gasket is also reccomended to change on these older motors. The new gasket materials are much better, plus you can look into the cylinders and clean out any carbon build up.
