I have a dilemma ... probably like most other people with old outboards. Let me start with a little background. I bought my first boat last year - 1960 16' Larson All American Runabout with a 1959 Evinrude Lark. The Lark busted out on me and my 'boat dude' put on a 1971 50hp Thunderbolt. It was winterized afterwards and I took it out for my first run this year in April. She started right up, however, would always die when just idling and would also cut out on low speed. And when I tried to back her up, the outboard would raise the prop up (is this normal??). But running her full idle she did fine and zipped around. When the sun finally came out a month ago (yeah -- it's Oregon) ... I took her to a reputable boat shop called Pacific Power Boats. Two weeks later they called me to let me know they didn't want to work on it. They said the motor seems loose. The carb needs work. The block has been welded. And I need a new control cable. They also said they don't want to try to find the parts for the boat because of the age of the motor.
So I feel like I did last year when I realized the Lark was beyond hope. Is this Thunderbolt beyond help?? Is it just that this particular boat place doesn't want to deal with old motors? I sure hope so. One thing I know that was challenging on the motor install was that the Evinrude had 4 wires and the Merc has 5. So the boat dude had to 'rig' it just to get it to work. So I know it's not the prettiest job -- but if it starts and goes for the most part, shouldn't this be repairable? Maybe there is an actual boat repair shop in the Portland area that works on old motors.
I will take any two cents -- one & a half cents -- I don't care -- I need some direction whether or not to just sell it to someone who has the time to work on this stuff.
Thanks iBoat Community!
~sjbpdx
So I feel like I did last year when I realized the Lark was beyond hope. Is this Thunderbolt beyond help?? Is it just that this particular boat place doesn't want to deal with old motors? I sure hope so. One thing I know that was challenging on the motor install was that the Evinrude had 4 wires and the Merc has 5. So the boat dude had to 'rig' it just to get it to work. So I know it's not the prettiest job -- but if it starts and goes for the most part, shouldn't this be repairable? Maybe there is an actual boat repair shop in the Portland area that works on old motors.
I will take any two cents -- one & a half cents -- I don't care -- I need some direction whether or not to just sell it to someone who has the time to work on this stuff.
Thanks iBoat Community!
~sjbpdx