Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

[SeaNymph Man]

I am in process of upgrading my motor from a 1970 9.5 HP Johnson to a mid
1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18 motor. How good are the Evinrude Fastwins?
Are they easy to service? Get parts for,etc.? I seen such a motor at my
local bait shop,"Bud's Fishin Hole",in Huntington,In. Bud has it for sale at $450.00,but will let me have it for $250.00 since he is offering me $200.00 trade for my current motor,...a 1970 9.5 HP Johnson. The motor has both
electric and manual rope start,tiller steer,and is a short shaft,too. My boat,
a 1973 Sea Nymph 14R,is rated for 25 HP. How well will this 18 HP Evinrude
do on my boat? The motor has sat in storage for two years and was taken in as a local trade. Prior to that,the motor was given a new water pump and was
tuned up by Bud. BEFORE he sells it to me,Bud is going to fire it up and make sure it is pumping water as it should and running correctly just to be sure. It
was winterized before being placed in storage,...in a heated building,BTW!

 

[R.Johnson]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

Those engine's are simple to work on, most all parts are still availabe, they run great, and last forever. My son's, and I have two, a 57, and 58. They still start, and run like the day they were made.

 

[david_r]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

ive got a '68 on one of my lil aluminum 14' boats.

it still runs like a champ, gets great fuel mileage, runs shallower than my bassboat, and it usually starts with at least the 2nd pull.

 

[jdsgrog]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

I've got a '58 johnson 18hp on my 14' lund s-14. It does well with me and another in the boat. With me alone, it gets 18-20mph. With another adult (about 400 lbs of people plus gear), I got around 16-18mph. Easy motor to work on, and parts are readily available. For $250, if it's running, I'd get it.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

Just sold a 1964 18hp for $350.00 @ full asking price. That engine ran as well as the 1978 35hp I replaced it with. Very easy engine to work on.

Will add that at $200.00 I think you're giving away your 9.5. and as far as I am concerned it would be an even swap.

I also have a 1969 9.5hp Johnson that I have owned for over 20 years and I will not sell it. It runs that good!

 

[jbjennings]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

I'd want to take a peek at the lower unit oil to see if the gear lube was nice and clear and clean, with no water. I'd also pray it held gear at full speed. They're good motors, of course, and the electric start is a nice plus. I think you're probably not getting on your "trade", either, but since I don't care for the 9.5's, I'd probably do it too.:redface: I think it's a good deal if the lower unit is sealed good and the motor runs good. You'll love it. Plenty of power on a 14ft. aluminum boat.
JMO,
JBJ

 

[lindy46]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

Bud has it for sale at $450.00,but will let me have it for $250.00 since he is offering me $200.00 trade for my current motor,...a 1970 9.5 HP Johnson.

Motor is worth appx. $300 in good running condition. So he's giving you $50 for your trade and will probably sell it for $200. Great deal for Bud

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

Around SE Wisc. and NE Illinois you can't hardly touch one of those 9.5hp motors in nice running condition for less than $300.00 and a very clean one for less than $450.00, which is why I say it's an even wash.

 

[jbjennings]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

If it helps, SeaNymphman, your 9.5hp has a couple of No Longer Available parts that are known to go bad no matter how well you take care of the motor (like the exhaust gasket and front engine mount). That type of problem with parts availability is NOT a problem with the '60s 18hp. I personally think the 18 is worth about 150 bucks more than your motor.
But, I am obviously biased because I don't like the 9.5's.
JBJ

 

[rolmops]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

If it helps, SeaNymphman, your 9.5hp has a couple of No Longer Available parts that are known to go bad no matter how well you take care of the motor (like the exhaust gasket and front engine mount). That type of problem with parts availability is NOT a problem with the '60s 18hp. I personally think the 18 is worth about 150 bucks more than your motor.
But, I am obviously biased because I don't like the 9.5's.
JBJ

No longer available parts in your neck of the woods maybe,around here every last part is available

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

Should power your boat pretty well as long as you don't load it way down and then expect 35+ mph. Your boat is rated for 25 hp and you need at least 70% of that to get good performance. That's a decent price for a good Fastwin as long as it has compression, runs well and pumps water, and doesn't have water in the lower unit.

 

[jbjennings]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

No longer available parts in your neck of the woods maybe,around here every last part is available

Rolmops,
Thanks for the correction! In case a friend ever needs one, where would he happen to find those 9.5 parts like the front engine mount and midsection exhaust gasket? Does Laing's have them? I was thinking those parts were as rare as hen's teeth!
Later,
JBJ

 

[R.Johnson]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

We use to break that lower exhaust gasket, new, and straight off the shelf. I wonder how one would stretch after 30+ years'. Is someone making new one's?

 

[SeaNymph Man]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

If it helps, SeaNymphman, your 9.5hp has a couple of No Longer Available parts that are known to go bad no matter how well you take care of the motor (like the exhaust gasket and front engine mount). That type of problem with parts availability is NOT a problem with the '60s 18hp. I personally think the 18 is worth about 150 bucks more than your motor.
But, I am obviously biased because I don't like the 9.5's.
JBJ

I have to agree that the motor I have now(...I bought the 18 HP Fastwin)is most likely worth more than I paid for it. I think it was underpriced,IMHO! Anyway,I had the chance to hear it run. Fired on the first touch of the start
button(electric starting is wonderful),and ran great in test tank. Got it installed on boat and tried it out a local reservoir. Like you,...I did not like
the 9.5 Johnson very well,...mine just did not perform to my expectations.
The one and only problem I experienced this morning on my test run at the
reservoir was that once the boat was on plane,the bow started to bounce.
I had to back off the throttle to get the boat to settle down. I asked Bud about it and his suggestion was to set the trim all the way in and add some weight forward to counteract the added weight of the starting battery in back. I put a moderately sized brick(not real big) in front of the middle seat,
and I will see what happens next time out. Bud told me that should solve the bouncing problem if I do those things.

 

[SeaNymph Man]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

Motor is worth appx. $300 in good running condition. So he's giving you $50 for your trade and will probably sell it for $200. Great deal for Bud

Great deal for me or for Bud,...does not really matter now. I am just glad to be rid of that dang 9.5 Johnson. I thought I hated Mercury's motors really
bad,...but that 9.5 Johnson I disliked even worse and for dang good reason.
Underpowered for the boat it was on to begin with,...not to mention it was
hard to start alot of times and to top it off,...mine just did not idle well at all.
I am glad that 9.5 Johnson is GONE!

 

[jbjennings]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

Bud told you right on the porpoising. Put the tilt pin down another notch until it stops porpoising, or if it's already in the closest notch to the transom, then put a little weight up front like he said and it will be smooth as silk. You're going to love that motor. You could probably get $100 pretty easy just for the electric starter and bracket.
Like you said---a good deal for all involved.
Just to be fair, however-----the 9.5 I worked on idled great and started easy just like every other OMC product I've had. I just don't like the looks and the hard to work aspect of it. Some of the things that commonly go out on the 9.5 are just a pain to work on. You can scan the threads in the future here and when you see something in the thread title like "motor won't run with hood on", you can almost bet your next paycheck it's a 9.5.
Happy boating,
JBJ

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

the old 18's are great! grab it. It will do well on a boat rated for 25. In fact the old 33 was an 18 with a bigger carb, or so i was told.
You don't need electric start on it either so bypass it and save some weight.
Keep the 9.9. A guy can't have too many motors.

 

[jdsgrog]

Re: Mid to late 1960's Evinrude Fastwin 18,...are they good motors?

Bud told you right on the porpoising. Put the tilt pin down another notch until it stops porpoising, or if it's already in the closest notch to the transom, then put a little weight up front like he said and it will be smooth as silk. You're going to love that motor.
JBJ

That's right. I had a porpoising problem. I adjusted the trim down to the second notch closest to the transom when I was in the boat alone, and problem solved. With another adult, I trimmed it up to the third notch from the transom to plane out the boat properly.