1970 65hp engine question

hey guys, im really really new to boats and everything, so i have a question about a 1970 65 hp motor. the thing has probably been sitting for about 15-20 years without being run at all, so i was wondering if its fixable. there was nothing wrong with it, it just hasnt been run at all for a very long time. i dont know what brand it is because its sitting at a relatives house, but i basically just want to know if its fixable or not for not too much money. if any of you feel the need to know any backround info on the boat itself feel free to ask, but as for right now i dont feel its necassary. thanks in advance.
luke

 

Hi Laxman and welcome to the forums!

A couple of Q's

Is it gas or diesel?

What kind of conditions has it been sitting in?

Part of your answer will depend on the make - if a lot of them were made then new and used spares are going to be cheaper than if it's a little known brand

Are you talking about doing this yourself or paying for a rebuild..

Paul

just askin!

 

Hi Polarity.

The engine is gas, and as far as I know, it has been sitting outside for the past 15-20 years. That is, rain, snow, heat, and cold. If it helps, the engine has been covered. I'm not sure but the engine could be something along the lines of a "Johnson". My brother and I had thought about doing it ourselves because I know he knows alot more about this than I do, but, I would feel alot better about it if we just took the engine somewhere and pay for a rebuild. Thanks Paul

-Luke

 

aaaahhh ...

Its an outboard ! (N.S sherlock!)

Sorry, I got the wrong end of the stick and for some reason assumed you meant engine as in inboard..

Anyway there are people on this board that know a lot more than I do about outboards (and I am sure they will correct me if I go astray..) but as a few ideas:

Take the plug(s) out and turn the motor up side down... if rusty water runs out I would suspect you could write off the the top end (the motor bit) completely. Drain the engine oil, ditto, if there is water present.

If the plugs are totaly rusty/ and or missing bits of the electrode I would not turn the engine even by hand until you find the missing chunks!

If everything looks clean inside, you could dump a teaspoon or 2 of engine oil in the plug holes, find neutral on the gearbox (if it has N) and see if you can turn the engine over a couple of times gently with the pull cord - again go easy as you dont want to score the barrels with any junk that might be in there - or suck in any birds that might be nesting in the air filter ^"^ . If it turns thats good news, if not... well it might be junk or it might not, but it would lean more towards junk!

Same with the leg, drain and look for water, if the prop will turn...great.

If you are going to go ahead I would then take any numbers you can find on the engine and try to identify it. Get a shop manual for it and, if you can tell muck from metal, there is no reason why you should not strip it down, clean it up, new rings, seals/gaskets, plugs, plugleads etc etc. Also any gas left in the carb will be varnish by now so make sure you strip everything - and keep the note pad handy to make notes of the order of everything and diagrams... a digital camera might help there too!

Before you look paying x$/hour for someone to fix it up, check out he price of a used, running, outboard.... - I doubt you will be getting a bargain by paying for it to be sorted. Also if you DIY you will have lot of fun, and learn a lot on the way. And when it starts after a xx hours of TLC you will get a big smile out of it!!

Have fun !

Paul

PS Nigel Calder's book "The boat owners elctrical and mechanical manual" (or something like that!) might be useful for you...