Re: 1978 115 evinrude worth buying?
Those70 hp exhaust plates are pretty common and many of the later engine's plates will fit. Lots these old engines laying around if you wanted to look for a used plate(s). The 78 115 was a strong/popular engine in the day. Has the newer dual power pack arrangement and is the larger (standard) 99.6 cubic block. Has the later mechanical shifting lower unit (preferred over earlier electric shift units.) HP rated at the crank, it's not the same as today's prop-rated 115's, but still a solid engine. It's as good as the prior owner's periodic maintenance program. I'd perform a compression check on the 4 cylinders. When new, you'd get around 125 lbs on each. If the compression is over 10% difference between the cyls, that's usually a sign of a problem. Pull the lower unit drain plug and see if there is any water in the oil. If the lower unit is good, that single item could be close to the total value of the whole engine. Likely that engine came with power tilt/trim from the factory-a real plus if it works ok. Your 70 hp controls will work on that 115 engine (plug and play,) unless the shift handle does not have the power trim button-then you'd have to upgrade the handle.
