About those Spirit Outboards ....

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

About those Spirit Outboards ....

Has anyone had any experience with Spirit Outboards? There is a guy that has a bunch of NOS Spirit outboards that are vintage 1979 25 HP motors going for way less than a new one of modern vintage would cost ... now, should I think of these as brand new motors, or will age have torn up the impellers and seals and wires and such (dry rot, ozone deterioration, the usual evils of disuse) ... I am considering buying two of them to mount on the 18 StarCraft ... I want to pop a little cabin on there so the little lady will want to come out with me, so the extra 25 horses should come in handy against those sudden Delaware Bay squalls that kick up, dont want to be dragging your feet heading back to the breakwater when those babies come rolling in<br />Also, if one goes down, the other would be able to plane the boat back in from pretty much anywhere ... I have heard that Suzuki makes an iron tough outboard, I just dont know if they were making them that well for others, especially back then.<br />Any thoughts on this? Any Spirit or late seventies Suzuki owners out there to tell me what sort of luck they have had so far?<br />Thanks for the input<br /><br />Ray

 

[DJ]

Re: About those Spirit Outboards ....

Re: About those Spirit Outboards ....

Suzuki/Spirit. One and the same.<br /><br />Suzuki originally came to US market labeled as Spirit.<br /><br />Those are old engines, I'm sure they will need some attention.<br /><br />Call a Suzuki dealer and see if you can still get the soft parts (ompellers, carb. kits, seals, gaskets, etc.) for them before you take the plunge.

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: About those Spirit Outboards ....

Re: About those Spirit Outboards ....

Thanks for the heads up, I like the idea of a brand new motor, but I cant help but think that they are still 25 years old, cant be perfect ... Ill give the Suzuki guys a holler and see if they have any old parts still on the shelf, if they do, Ill get two impellers for each engine, a carb kit and a pair of props ... and hope I dont knock a skeg off, lol

 

[JerseyJim]

Re: About those Spirit Outboards ....

Re: About those Spirit Outboards ....

I would pass on the '71 motors and find a newer, 1980s-1990s OMC, yamaha, merc/mariner, or suzuki motor. Twin outboards are nice, but on an 18' starcraft twin 25s would be a waste of the extra manpower and parts associated with trying to resurrect tthese things - not to mention the extra weight associated with twins.<br /><br />Spend the $800 or so and get an outboard made within the last 20 years, of a minimum of 70hp. <br /><br />A fishing buddy of mine had a 21' center console starcraft aluminum with a 90hp yamaha on it...it ran like a champ at about 37mph.<br /><br />Twins are in my opinion a must on heavy boats or offshore boats - but a waste on lighter or bay boats. In delaware you really wont be doing either I suspect. The delaware bay can get funky weatherwise, but its not the hudson canyon either.

 

[DJ]

Re: About those Spirit Outboards ....

Re: About those Spirit Outboards ....

SMZ,<br /><br />It would help a great deal if you had the model/serial number off of one of them. That will help the Suzy dealer find out if the parts are available.<br /><br />On a positive note, the engines shipped from Japan are pretty well "pickled", they might be OK.

 

[fridays]

Re: About those Spirit Outboards ....

Re: About those Spirit Outboards ....

Soft parts are readily available and usually in stock. They are great motors, the first motor I sold in 1982 was a 25hp. Suzuki (basically the same as 1979) and it's still out there going strong with what has been minimal service or problems. If the price is right and it's what you want don't let the age stand in your way. Go for it.

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: About those Spirit Outboards ....

Re: About those Spirit Outboards ....

The motors are nearly 1980 models ... yes, twins are double trouble, but jeeze ... for roughly 1500 I can have dual brand new OB motors, and fifty horses to boot ... a new fifty runs somewhere around four thousand dollars, so I figure its basically a bargain .. not to mention the fun of playing Party Boat Captain and steering with the engines, and having that built in back up capacity ... also, Im a tad insane, and the sheer depth of the hull has me thinking that venturing a bit offshore wouldnt neccessarily be suicide ... well .. as long as the weather holds, 20 or 30 miles off the beach would be ok (I want to follow the head boats out when they go night blue fishing, and bang big blues in MY boat, and not worry about getting back into port)<br />Speaking of which, the reliability of Suzuki is pretty well established in the little rental range motors, 6 to 8 horse motors, but I havent heard much on the 25 with the exception of the above post - are they the equal of a JohnnyRude or the Black Max boys? (not mentioning Chrysler, lol, heard too many bad stories about em!)