1973 evinrude 115hp worth restoring?

[glenn property of pam]

i have a 115393m laying in the yard that i was about to scrap when my curiosity got the better of me so i set it up on a stand and thought i would just play with it for a bit to see whats what. starters has no real torque but the connections are dirty so that no surprisse. i put a little 3 in 1 in the barrels then spun it over with out plugs then compression tested the cylinders and they are all 120-125 psi cold. now im kinda intrested to see if its worth spending $100 bucks on it i know it needs carb cleaned or rebuilt and the lower is leaking clean oil out of the shift or shaft seal (only leaks when layed down).

was this a good motor back in the day and is it worth fixing to possible use on a cheap boat. the lack of trim and tilt and tell-tale seems to be the sticking point for me. im just struggling with the idea of throwing away a good engine. i must admit the shape of the carb intake and cowling seems to have some style that the mid 80 - early 90 models lack so thats almost worth saving it just for its looks.

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: 1973 evinrude 115hp worth restoring?

The gearcase is a hydro-Mechanical shift unit, which is quite an odd duck. It still has the oil pump inside, but uses a mechanical linkage to shift. Unfortunately the control direction for the shifter is the opposite of the "normal" controls so it is important that the proper control is used.

It has a modern ignition system with readily available parts.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: 1973 evinrude 115hp worth restoring?

hmmmmmm...... so the 80's controller i hooked up will make the prop run backwards when i push forwards?

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1973 evinrude 115hp worth restoring?

The compression indicates the powerhead is proably still good. This one has the larger 99.6 cubic inch block. The fact that it's not an electric shift gearcase is good. It has the newer style timer base in the ignition system-that's good. With some TLC, the engine could be a good runner. The fact that the engine does not have power trim is an incovenience by today's standards. OMC did make a trim/tilt system for this unit as an accessory back in the days. These old trim systems are NLA. If you really get looking, you might find an old scrap engine which has a running trim system that you could salvage. They were good running engines back in the day and many of the parts are still available in the aftermarket today. Sounds like a good project. I'd also replace the vernatherm/thermostat as well as the impeller.

 

[MRneatfreak]

Re: 1973 evinrude 115hp worth restoring?

If you look in any online manual you will find parts for coils, power packs and most likely carbs are all the same part numbers from 1973-1977 for 85hp/115hp? So that makes parts for you easier to find. Sounds like a keeper to me. I have a 73 top half, complete 77, and a complete 78. They all look identical.

 

[aerobat]

Re: 1973 evinrude 115hp worth restoring?

i put a little 3 in 1 in the barrels then spun it over with out plugs then compression tested the cylinders and they are all 120-125 psi cold. now im kinda intrested to see if its worth spending $100 bucks on it

when it still gives you 120psi i would say it is for sure worth investing 100bucks or so. clean the connections, clean the carbs and look what happens. maybe this thing is a very cheap way to hang 115 horses on the transom.

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: 1973 evinrude 115hp worth restoring?

hmmmmmm...... so the 80's controller i hooked up will make the prop run backwards when i push forwards?

Probably (edit ) Not.
The controls should work the same. It is when someone actually swaps the wrong year lower end when the problem pops up. You have to make sure the right lower end is matched to the correct linkage on the motor, not the control itself.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: 1973 evinrude 115hp worth restoring?

i guess i will slowly work on this one while i carry on fixing the small problems i have with my boat/motor. im going to have to deal with the "honey why do you have 3 motors and one boat"........i think im going to have to tell her that its not to many motors its to few boat

 

[kodibass]

Re: 1973 evinrude 115hp worth restoring?

It sounds to me that she mostly needs some good old elbow grease cleaning up. cpl tweaks & a impeller and you will need a boat, Also that compression is likely to get higher after she comes to life and runs for a spell, heck yea! fix that fine piece of engineered art up...

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: 1973 evinrude 115hp worth restoring?

update: finnally got the starter to work properly. stripped and cleaned then it worked for 3 or 4 goes then started to drag again so i had to strip and recut the stator gaps with a micro file (lots of carbon in the gaps). i see 4 sparks but they are real week (3 coils have cracks in the outer casing and the last one the spark plug boot fell off and had to be redone) keeping a eye on the forum in case someone in florida needs the motor. thinking $200 now it needs coils so shes still got a fighting chance

 

[wal92tt]

Re: 1973 evinrude 115hp worth restoring?

I have the same engine and year. I was told that the stator needs to be replaced and who knows from there on... Would you be willing to sell the stator? I'm located in Riverview, near Florida.

update: finnally got the starter to work properly. stripped and cleaned then it worked for 3 or 4 goes then started to drag again so i had to strip and recut the stator gaps with a micro file (lots of carbon in the gaps). i see 4 sparks but they are real week (3 coils have cracks in the outer casing and the last one the spark plug boot fell off and had to be redone) keeping a eye on the forum in case someone in florida needs the motor. thinking $200 now it needs coils so shes still got a fighting chance