Old engines - your opinions please

[wolfie]

as per the title, remembering some of us boat / RIB on very tight / limited budgets, what in your opinion is the best engine out of all the old 2 strokes : Chrysler - Volvo Penta - Evinrude - Crescent - Johnson etc, you get the idea

[Razorbill RIBs]

I've had some shockers in the past....on the two stroke front my first was a dog rough 45HP chrysler which looked like a museum piece (when i had it 17 years ago)....that seized up eventually and was followed by an ancient Johnson 40 seahorse (electric start!!!). A few Mariners of different vintages followed (I also run an '02 ex RNLI 40 at the moment), a couple of 4 strokes inbetween and a Yammie 90.....which was just fab! Didn't miss a beat when I had it nor did it for another forum member who had it after me!

If it's for your Avon, my friend runs a mid 90's Yammie 40 on his 4m Searider and IMO it is a great set-up! Very subjective I suppose, but would say that a Yammie would be a pretty good choice

[wolfie]

admittedly there are some shocking engines out there, for my part since i was little my father started off with a 35 Chrysler, suppose that's where my liking for old engines comes from ( living so far from the sea my hobby is collecting and restoring old engines) esp Chrysler and Archimedes/crescent/Volvo penta's.
They are very simple technology with no fancy electronics / fuel systems to go wrong, my favourite at the moment is a 450 offshore Archimedes penta, even the timing is fixed no advance or retard,

I am going to try out my "modern" 1993 ex RNLI evinrude 50 on the sr4, still interested in every one else's choice / opinion of old pre 1990 engines

[T 15]

well my ORIGINAL 1976 Merc 500 ( 50hp ) is still going great, all original including 17" prop & spark plugs.........had it from new.........starts 1st or 2nd pull......manual start......( spark plugs ORIGINAL ).......boat 1973.......Gunning built on Tremlett stage 1 hull.............

[m chappelow]

For me the best engines from the mid 1970,s were Yamaha.

over the years i have owned many engines and repaired many for other people .

mercury i have never owned one but came to the conclusion they were overated and it was a fashion statement ,and that unless it was a newish one they were ok , more than a few years on it and they seemed to have problems on the electrical side solenoids./starters ect granted though they were mostly on abused speedboats .

selvas seemed a not bad power head but many seemed to have problems with the lower leg gearbox.

owned a volvepenta once that came with a fishing boat , that never seemed to run just right but it did have 2 water pump impellers ,one for the engine cooling and another aux that you could use as a bilge pump .

had a few johnsons which dident seem too bad .

Had a couple of Perkins which were on a par with the johnsons ,,Heard Perkins started making them them for the North sea oil boom operaters of the 60s to try compeate with the rival outboard companys .

and about a 100 seagulls

Like everything else, some had had better care than others along with hard use through to others being used perhaps only a couple of times in a decade .
one thing, they may have been less reliable back then but you at least you could a go at fixing them in most cases .
i have even removed fly wheels out at sea and cleaned up and reset points .
mart

[martini]

Best - Yammie 15hp early/mid eighties? 1 pull to start in summer, 2 in winter, every time

Worst - Selva If I could afford the petrol I'd never had turned it off, then I wouldn't have to stress about whether it would start again!

[diverdad]

In my limited experience the best engine is a old 70hp Chrysler, it was electric start but no power trim and tilt.
On one occasion my mate forgot to put the out board lock on the leg and when I put it in reverse the engine kicked up and the prop was out of the water.
Only ever broke down twice
1st time blocked carbs, (easy fix even out at sea)
2nd time the prop fell off-what a bummer!

I also have a old suzuki 30 hp on my SIB, it, like the chrysler is all mechanical and easy to maintain- love it.

new engines; they are a joke.
They remind me of teenagers; they have a high opinion of themselves and break down at the first sign of some real hard work!

Lee

[T 15]

Originally Posted by m chappelow

mercury i have never owned one but came to the conclusion they were overated and it was a fashion statement ,and that unless it was a newish one they were ok , more than a few years on it and they seemed to have problems on the electrical side solenoids./starters ect granted though they were mostly on abused speedboats .

been told the older the better..........?? also told the "new" are not so good...?

first o/b was a 1963/4 Jonhson 40 electramatic...we found it a great engine but others said ..........sxxt.............

2nd o/b, Merc 500 redband manual start, raced it in the early 70s, a GREAT engine.....

3rd o/b & still in use 1976 Merc 500 manual start ( blue-band "hockeystick" ) a GREAT engine.


4th o/b Honda 45 hp 4stroke ( 1993/4 ish ?) a GREAT engine, had it on a cruiser for about 10 years,


5th o/b Yam 4stroke 40hp ( and current ) , also a great engine.but battery goes down sometimes...

also have a honda 2hp good wee engine....but not water cooled...!!!


re-built a few early Johnson & Mercs in me day.........easy to do.........

[T 15]

Originally Posted by diverdad

new engines; they are a joke.
They remind me of teenagers; they have a high opinion of themselves and break down at the first sign of some real hard work!

Lee

I would go with this..........

but remember with old engines.........it must be a good one.........

[TMB]

I am going to try out my "modern" 1993 ex RNLI evinrude 50 on the sr4, still interested in every one else's choice / opinion of old pre 1990 engines [/QUOTE]

I have that engine on my sr4. It is a little pocket rocket. Great choice! Oh and for the best 2 stroke- Yammies all the way. I have 5 of them on my boats. The twatsoo are not to bad either.