1961 Evinrude Lark 3 help

[fishinbuffalo]

I recently bought a 1970 Glasspar tri hull in sad shape and I have a lot of work to do if I ever expect to get it on the water. The motor that came on the boat is a 1961 Evinrude Lark 3 40 horse model number 35525. The lower gear unit is seized and in horrible shape, but the rest of the motor looks like it was pampered. Can anyone tell me where to find the parts for this engine, or if it is even worth fixing? Thanks a bunch!!

 

[CATransplant]

Re: 1961 Evinrude Lark 3 help

The Evinrude/Johnson Big Twins are excellent outboards, overall. Very sturdy and with lots of torque. They're a little fuel hungry, but that's not a real problem.<br /><br />There were tons of these made, so good, used lower units and other assemblies are fairly easy to find. Outboard junkyards, like tcoutboard.com, are an excellent source.<br /><br />That said, what I'd do is pull that lower unit off the engine and check two things: Compression and spark. Spark's easy. You can replace the entire magneto system for around $50 with new parts. Compression's another matter. If both cylinders are over 80 psi on that engine and within 10% of each other, you're in pretty good shape, and the outboard's worth spending some money on.<br /><br />That basic engine, in one form or another, was made from the mid-fifties up through the late sixties, and beyond. What that means is that lots of experience exists on it and it was an excellent design.<br /><br />There are several owners of that engine or ones closely-related to it here, and there's lots of technical help available.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: 1961 Evinrude Lark 3 help

Welcome to Ibaots!<br /><br />If you want, you can test out the engine by hose-clamping a garden hose to the water tube and running it like that. If it's got good compression (even and over about 80 psi) then it may be worth fixing up if you're mechanically inclined.<br /><br />If it's a mechanical shift engine (and I belive it is) you can use a mechanical shift lower unit from a mechanical shift '60-'70 40hp, or '65-71 33hp. I don't think the 28hp one would be great as it's got an older internal design.<br /><br />These lower units are very common. Often you can find them on ebay, or you can simply order one from an online wrecker like tcoutboard.com or marinepartsoutlet.com . There's lots of others, just search for "used outboard parts".

 

[BeyondDelirium]

Re: 1961 Evinrude Lark 3 help

Thanks very much Paul Moir and CATransplant, compression seems fine, maybe even a little on the high side. I think I will repair the motor and thanks for the part help. That was going to be my next question but it seems it has been answered already: whether or not any mech shift 40HP lower unit would fit or not. There is a Johnson lower unit on ebay that I am going to see if I can get cheap, and both sites have come in handy as I am ordering a few replacement parts for other engines that I have not been able to find. For some reason, even some of the more experienced repair shops around here in Buffalo, NY are not familiar with the Lark, or have given up OMC engine to work solely on Yamaha and Tohatsu. Again thanks a bunch.