Best OMC motors?

[kbait]

Re: Best OMC motors?

Samo.. I am a TOTAL fan of J/E points motors. Just NOT the 9.9/15's circa 74'-'76. They were quite marginal spark-wise. But give me any tuned FD/QD/AD/CD/JW twin w/points and I'm a happy troller!

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: Best OMC motors?

Hey samo. Good to see ya here

 

[TN-25]

Re: Best OMC motors?

I enjoyed reading TN's post and am with all you guys on everything but the 9.5hp johnson. As far as the small OMC's, I think it was the worst they ever made. Reason: #1 UGLY #2 Exhaust seals/PITA to work on #3 Motor mounts #4 Poorly designed recoil starter that wears out cords really quickly #5 The darned thing wasn't within 1/2hp of the previous 10hp motors in my opinion. #6 AWFUL color combinations

I guess most folks either love 'em or hate 'em.....

I guess I confused "personal favorite" with "best". I do think that the 9.5 was a great functioning motor when they were current and in production, but for all the reasons you state (well stated BTW) they are not a collector favorite. I never did see the starter rope as a common malady with these motors however; maybe I have just been lucky. Keep an open mind as it is only my opinion.

In that same vein, the old TS/TD/TN motors were considered great in their day, but that was a long time ago. They really are not practical to restore as a runner today, although when they are not worn out and are running as they should they are excellent in an archaic way. They just are not a motor one would want to use on a regular basis as they are impractical now. Respected in the day and made in the millions, yes. Based on 1930s technology, yes.

 

[Rayzor]

Re: Best OMC motors?

I guess I have to say the 1967 Evinrude 80 speedifour. Why? because itd the only bloody outboard I could find in Oregon before fishing season ! The little 1954 5.5 sitting beside it to handle trolling duties. Hard to argue with that combo in my opinion

 

[Johny25]

Re: Best OMC motors?

I believe the best looking motor I ever seen was the 58' 35hp Evinrude Lark. Man what a beauty she is But I love all the mid to late fifties Johnson and Evinrudes. Without a doubt the best era of motors there ever was IMO. The 50's styling and design was so good I wouldn't even care if the motors ran like crap lol.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: Best OMC motors?

Yea, I happen to have a nice lookin '58 Lark, plus several other of those big twin class motors. Their dependabilty and forgiveness is pretty tough to beat.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Best OMC motors?

I dunno about the '58 Lark, kinda odd looking! However, I just picked up a '57 Lark today for $100. Good compression. I was happy. The cowling is kinda old looking though...

 

[Johny25]

Re: Best OMC motors?

I had a hard time finding an image of a 58' 35hp Lark in black but here is a 57' in black which is just as nice and a blue 58 that looks stunning. I don't see the odd look your talking about? Unless you are talking about when they went to the square cowling in 59' I believe?

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk160/Timtoboyko/images.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk160/Timtoboyko/images-1.jpg

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Best OMC motors?

This is the '58 pic I was basing it on:

http://www.old-omc.de/e_1958/seite_09.jpg

Your blue one looks like a Big Twin model.

 

[Johny25]

Re: Best OMC motors?

I think they may have switched from the round cowling to that ugly square one in the middle of 58' because I have seen pics of 58s with the round and square? Maybe one of the more seasoned guys knows when they switched exactly. Was a few years before I was on this planet lol.

 

[JohnRudeMan]

Re: Best OMC motors?

I like Johnson Seahorse (probably more than Evinrude), especially the '52-'58 JW's, CD's and AD's. They are very beautiful and they are good strong runners.
My most favorite motors are probably the Johnson JW-10 and the CD-12. Another favorite outboard for me is the 1957 Johnson Golden Javelin 35hp, what a beauty !!!

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: Best OMC motors?

I had a hard time finding an image of a 58' 35hp Lark in black but here is a 57' in black which is just as nice and a blue 58 that looks stunning. I don't see the odd look your talking about? Unless you are talking about when they went to the square cowling in 59' I believe?

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk160/Timtoboyko/images.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk160/Timtoboyko/images-1.jpg

Oddly enough, the '58 Lark had the Super Quiet design, which at that time was a new innovative design for it and the Fat Fifty. However, the '58 Big Twin was still built like the '57 Big Twin and Lark. By '59, all 35's were Super Quiet models. I believe the Sea King 35's were still the single wall midsection though and never taken the Super Quiet suspension on the 35/40 models.

Yea samo, I wouldn't mind running across a '57 Lark, myself, even if I have to drag a boat home with it. Those are actually my all time favorites.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: Best OMC motors?

Well this is what I picked up yesterday for $100. It's beat up but seems to have good compression. (It's hard to tell when trying to pull it and it's below freezing out!). Huh... Can't add a picture on my wife's crappy Windows 7 laptop...

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: Best OMC motors?

Yea, it's not your computer, samo. The site is under construction right now and they're working on this particular issue. I posted a few pics, back on page one of this thread and they're not showing up yet.

Those old Larks have high compression, when they're in good health. As long as it has good compression, they're really easy to coax back to life and great restoration projects. Mas just did a nice resto on one of those and they look awesome.

My '58 looks almost as good as the one you posted on the ad on the last page and still has 130 psi in each hole. When I found it, it was laying in a boat with the flywheel off and the magplate exposed to the weather, and it was stuck. My guess is, it hadn't ran in over 20 years and just got stuck from sitting. I got it unstuck and fixed up the magplate assembly and now it runs like a top. I think it would look good on the Sabre Craft I just picked up.

 

[64osby]

Re: Best OMC motors?

I wouldn't mind running across a '57 Lark, myself, even if I have to drag a boat home with it. Those are actually my all time favorites.

http://kalamazoo.craigslist.org/boa/2820534007.html
It's a long ways from Yamhill, That's in Oregon if I'm not mistaken, and it's a '56

 

[Johny25]

Re: Best OMC motors?

So Zephyr did they change the cowling in 58'? I have seen 58's with the round style cowling also?

 

[TN-25]

Re: Best OMC motors?

So Zephyr did they change the cowling in 58'? I have seen 58's with the round style cowling also?

Go to this link: http://www.old-omc.de/start.html then select "The 50'ies", then "1958", then "Evinrude brochure". You will be able to see all the 1958 Evinrudes, including the simple 35 horse Big Twin and the 35 horse Lark with the revised "Super Quiet" lower unit and way-out cowling.

1946Zephyr, I agree that old Lark would look great on that boat!

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Best OMC motors?

I love the lines of that Sabrecraft! It looks like something out of the Jetsons. (Where do you get all these wonderful toys Zephyr?) I bet that 35 would push it along nicely. A head turner on the water for sure.

 

[Johny25]

Re: Best OMC motors?

Hey thanks TN-25 great link! Yeah it looks as though the Lark did go to the square cowling in 58 and the bigtwin stayed round. So a correction to my earlier comment, the 57' Lark is the most beautiful outboard ever IMO. But man those Johnson Javelins are no slouches themselves. Be happy with either or.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: Best OMC motors?

I love the lines of that Sabrecraft! It looks like something out of the Jetsons. (Where do you get all these wonderful toys Zephyr?) I bet that 35 would push it along nicely. A head turner on the water for sure.

Yea, I got it with a 1964 Johnson 40 on it, for $100, but the Johnson doesn't have electric starting, so I figured the '58 Lark would look nice on it. The boat is only 13'6", so a 35 would be more apropriate, powerwise. So far, I had to put new tires and wheels on the trailor and re-pack the wheel bearings. I spent hours cleaning this bugger up too. It was an awful mess. I figure that I'll get it fixed up nice and sell it.

Now THIS, is the boat I can't wait to hit the water with. It has a '59 Johnson 35 on it.