1963 15 hp sea king

[Derrickhand219]

Im new to this site and fairly new to boating. i have recently acquired a 1971 14 foot sea nymph that came with a 1963 15 hp sea king model # gg18802a made by gale for montgomery ward. my question is i would like to rebuild this motor. what all would i need to replace? Check? I have read two different oil/gas mixtures 24:1 and 50:1 where could i i find an manual for this motor? Any other info on this motor orinfo in general will be much appreciated.

 

[twocyclemania]

Re: 1963 15 hp sea king

I have your motor's cousin - the 63 Gale 15; same maker and cousin of Evinrude. It is a fantastic motor. I have an 18 Evinrude and I can't notice any difference in the power. Like yours it used the earlier 15 horse evinrude block. Yours may or may not have 'ears' on the head where the rubber cushions for the older style metal cowling rested. This is a parts bin motor and it used leftover parts from Evinrude/Johnson. Anyway, I would go with the 24 to 1 mixture. Plugs are much cheaper than a powerhead. If your's is the same same as mine don't go looking for a thermostat. There is none. The earlier 'evinrude' blocks did not have one. Question? Why do you want/need to rebuild the motor. Are you sure it's not ready to up and go.

 

[F_R]

Re: 1963 15 hp sea king

If there is a weak spot on that motor it is the lower main bearing seal at the bottom end of the crankshaft. They were terrible quality and often went bad. When they did, it let water get into the powerhead, which destroyed all the bearings. You will never know it is leaking till it is too late. If it were mine, I'd pull the powerhead and replace that seal whether it needs it or not. Part number 303804. Other than that, expect possible bad coils (from age), and replace the water pump impeller (same reason). Fuel mix is 24:1. They were great motors, not "left over", but built for a market. I know, I was a Gale dealer mechanic when it was built.

 

[twocyclemania]

Re: 1963 15 hp sea king

F_R: Thanks for info. I love my Gale and appreciate the info. I"m going to pull my powerhead and replace the seal.

 

[Derrickhand219]

Re: 1963 15 hp sea king

Thanks for the info guys. to answer your question as to why rebuild? Well it does seem to run decient, but theowner before me admitted he was not to mechnicaly inclined. Plus as a new owner i figure now is the best time to to learn how to work on it.

 

[Derrickhand219]

Re: 1963 15 hp sea king

I have two more questions about this motor. keep in mind im new to outboards lol. on the left side facing the frontthere is a button to looks like a solinoid? What is this for? Second is same side there is a handle that you can move to three different positions also what is this for?

 

[F_R]

Re: 1963 15 hp sea king

1. Stop button
2. Forward / Neutral / Reverse gearshift.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: 1963 15 hp sea king

So you're tuning it up, not rebuilding it. To most of us, "rebuilding" means a complete overhaul with new pistons, rings, machine work, etc. You're talking more of a general maintenance thorough tune-up with hoses, carb kit, waterpump, possible lower unit seals, ignition stuff, etc.

 

[Derrickhand219]

Re: 1963 15 hp sea king

Thank you sir. i kinda thought that might be what they were, but like i said new to outboards

 

[Derrickhand219]

Re: 1963 15 hp sea king

I took it out today first time since i bought it. around three months ago. it started onsecond pull. seems to run fine. but yes i did want to go threw the complete motor and replace anything that needed replacing whether it be just a hose or piston and rings .

 

[twocyclemania]

Re: 1963 15 hp sea king

Did you run it in a barrel or on a lake? Make sure the motor is pumping water. You should have a steady flow from the port on the leg. The water should be hot but not hot enough to burn your hand or put out steam with it.

 

[JB]

Re: 1963 15 hp sea king

One motto of veteran wrenches occurs to me. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." That is the basis of my many posts recommending simple, inexpensive procedures rather than tear downs.

I say use her and enjoy her. Unnecessary tear downs cause a lot more trouble than they fix.

 

[SeaKaye12]

Re: 1963 15 hp sea king

From what you are saying....the "tune up" maintenance described above should be all you will need. Motors like yours were very well made.....and most of them see so little use over the years.....and will most likely run for dozens of more years if just maintained correctly.

If you want to learn outboard repair....find another motor that actually needs a tear-down and learn on that. IMHO it would be a shame to tear down a perfectly working motor....there's a lot of learning involved to do it correctly...and you would most likely ruin it in the process.

 

[TN-25]

Re: 1963 15 hp sea king

... where could i i find an manual for this motor? Any other info on this motor orinfo in general will be much appreciated.

Your Sea King 15 was a Gale 15 with different paint and decals done for Montgomery-Ward. There was also another department store, Eaton's, in Canada that sold them as the Viking brand. On that note, let me direct you to Richard Paquette's site on the Viking motors. He has several Owner's Manuals & even a Gale shop manual that cross-refereneces to the Sea King, Viking, Sea Bee etc. brands. Check it out for your manuals and information.