After my previous thread about what vintage OMC to buy for my first motor, I finally decided on going with the advice of others here and get a 1954 QD-15 I found on CL. It was converted to use a fuel pump and had original paint and decals, although a little rough. The seller had owned it for about 3 years and had it on the water just a few times, aledgedly it ran strong for him. He didn't seem to know alot about it as he had aquired it as a part of a snowmobile trade. It looked solid in the pics and was advertised as running condition for $200. He seemed to be honestly unknowledgeble, but I appreciated that he wasn't trying to "sell" me the motor.
The Bad: The bottom tip of the skeg is broken off. Carb was weeping a little gas from the glass bowl. But the main problem was that it did not run when the seller tried to demo it in a bucket. He didn't seem to really know how to properly start it (trying many different settings of throttle and choke) and definately flooded it, and it was cold out to boot- 31F. He also said that he had no idea how to set the mixture knobs which were in any random position at this point. We pulled the plugs and they were wet along with the tops of the pistons which did look somewhat clean with my Mag-light. When it did finally fire, all it did was one "brrRAAAAPPP!!!" and that was it. Although it didn't run for more than a second, I could tell that both cylinders definately fired, which was good. We tried some ether and got the same result, one "brrRAAAAPPP!!!" and that was it. The last time we had it in gear and the prop blew the water out of the bucket. At this point I was on the fence about the deal and he offered to go $150 - About this time, I felt the little green QD-15 looking up at me with puppy dog eyes. Against my better judgement I loaded it up with the wal-mart plastic tank and homemade stand.
The Good: Original patina and decals- although a little rough around the edges. No water in the lower unit oil. Spark on both cylinders. Seller reported that the impeller, plugs, wires, condenser, points and coils had been replaced last year and the carb had been rebuilt 3 years ago (although no receipts for parts). Compression is very strong - when the seller tried to start it over and over (once with the plug wires reversed) the motor ripped the pull cord out of his hand and almost yanked him over with it! "It's got compression!" I said as we chuckled. The prop shaft is straight and the gear shifter seems to operate smoothly.
For the first couple hours after buying it I was overwhelmed with the "what did I just do" feeling, but I figured, worst case I can flip it on eBay and probably not get hurt too bad on the $$$. Hopefully, with the help of this wonderful community, I'll be able to get it running and have it in MY family for the next 55 years of its life!
What do you think should be my first step to getting this thing in running order the right way? Thanks for your replies!
Mike
Grand Rapids, MI
Sorry for the long read- I'm just geeked about my first motor! Here's some gory pics from the seller. I'll try to get some better ones up soon!
The Bad: The bottom tip of the skeg is broken off. Carb was weeping a little gas from the glass bowl. But the main problem was that it did not run when the seller tried to demo it in a bucket. He didn't seem to really know how to properly start it (trying many different settings of throttle and choke) and definately flooded it, and it was cold out to boot- 31F. He also said that he had no idea how to set the mixture knobs which were in any random position at this point. We pulled the plugs and they were wet along with the tops of the pistons which did look somewhat clean with my Mag-light. When it did finally fire, all it did was one "brrRAAAAPPP!!!" and that was it. Although it didn't run for more than a second, I could tell that both cylinders definately fired, which was good. We tried some ether and got the same result, one "brrRAAAAPPP!!!" and that was it. The last time we had it in gear and the prop blew the water out of the bucket. At this point I was on the fence about the deal and he offered to go $150 - About this time, I felt the little green QD-15 looking up at me with puppy dog eyes. Against my better judgement I loaded it up with the wal-mart plastic tank and homemade stand.
The Good: Original patina and decals- although a little rough around the edges. No water in the lower unit oil. Spark on both cylinders. Seller reported that the impeller, plugs, wires, condenser, points and coils had been replaced last year and the carb had been rebuilt 3 years ago (although no receipts for parts). Compression is very strong - when the seller tried to start it over and over (once with the plug wires reversed) the motor ripped the pull cord out of his hand and almost yanked him over with it! "It's got compression!" I said as we chuckled. The prop shaft is straight and the gear shifter seems to operate smoothly.
For the first couple hours after buying it I was overwhelmed with the "what did I just do" feeling, but I figured, worst case I can flip it on eBay and probably not get hurt too bad on the $$$. Hopefully, with the help of this wonderful community, I'll be able to get it running and have it in MY family for the next 55 years of its life!
What do you think should be my first step to getting this thing in running order the right way? Thanks for your replies!
Mike
Grand Rapids, MI
Sorry for the long read- I'm just geeked about my first motor! Here's some gory pics from the seller. I'll try to get some better ones up soon!
