How do I determine what year my motor is?

[dvalandingham1]

I was digging through some stuff in my mom's shed and came across an ELTO Handitwin motor. The only numbers I can make out on it are on the plate and they are 4357-04848. I don't know much about boat motors and was wondering what year it is and if parts can be found for it?

 

[CATransplant]

Re: How do I determine what year my motor is?

That's a 1940 3hp outboard. Parts can be a little tough to come by for it, but many are available. The nice thing is that, if the motor turns over, has compression, and has spark, it will likely run for you. Very simple outboard. <br /><br />Try turning the flywheel by hand. If it turns smoothly, then pull it with the rope. You should be able to feel the compression. If it's there, then remove the sparkplugs, insert them again in the plug boots, and lay the metal body of the plugs on the cylinders. Turn the engine over again with the rope. You should see sparks on both plugs.<br /><br />If you do, and the plugs look OK and not all gunked up, put 'em back in. It's better to replace them with new ones, but I don't have the plug spec for that outboard right here.<br /><br />Next, inspect the fuel tank. If it's empty and clean, add a little fuel/oil mix (16:1 to start with), open the fuel petcock and see if it'll fire for you. Be sure to do this test with the outboard in a water barrel, with water up over the lower gearbox unit.<br /><br />It's often surprising with these old outboards. I've started a couple of Eltos of this vintage in less than 15 minutes from finding them.<br /><br />If it won't start, then you can begin running down the problems and trying to find the parts.<br /><br />Check aomci.org. They're the antique outboard club, and have many resources for these fun old motors.

 

[dvalandingham1]

Re: How do I determine what year my motor is?

Thanks for the information. <br /><br />I did spin the flywheel by hand and compression seems good. <br /><br />I already tried the plug test you mention and they do not spark which I am assuming is for 2 reasons. First the plugs look really fowled. Second the wires going to the boots and the boots themselves are in pretty bad shape. <br /><br />I was planning on tearing the motor completely down and seeing what I can do with it. Any idea what the value of this motor would be to a collector?

 

[CATransplant]

Re: How do I determine what year my motor is?

OK, the plug for that motor is the Champion RD16, as far as I can determine. It used the C7 or 8 Commercial plug back in the day, and the RD16 is the supercession.<br /><br />As for the collector value, that's a little hard to determine. It all depends on condition and rarity.<br /><br />The little Elto Twins, in general, in excellent condition, seem to fetch between $200-400 on eBay. In lesser condition, they bring much less. Lots of them around, and not all that many collectors. A 1940 motor is considered relatively new by the outboard collectors. They all have an Elto twin or two.<br /><br />I'd be cautious about just tearing the motor down completely. That's probably not necessary, but you might disassemble it enough to replace those spark plug wires.<br /><br />If you can get this little jewel running without too much disassembly, then you can just clean it up and sell it, if that's your goal.<br /><br />eBay is a lively market for antique outboards.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: How do I determine what year my motor is?

As a matter of fact, there's an identical motor your your 4357 for sale on eBay right now. If you go there and search for "handitwin" (no quotes), it will pop right up. So far, with 6 days to go, the bidding is up to just $27.

 

[dvalandingham1]

Re: How do I determine what year my motor is?

Thanks for your help. This motor actually belonged to my dad's uncle when he was alive and then my dad while he was alive. Since it has been in the family for a long time I would like to get it running and use it for myself.<br /><br />If all else fails I will sell it and stick with building bike engines.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: How do I determine what year my motor is?

Yup. Restoring an old outboard for family reasons is really fun, and worthwhile.<br /><br />My brother has my dad's old Elto Pal. It looks absolutely perfect, and even runs pretty darned well. He build a little 6' pram from some plans that date back to those days. Every once in a while he totes them both to the lake and cruises around for a while. 1.1 hp doesn't move it along very fast, but it's fun. Makes him smile. Doggone it, though...I just didn't move quickly enough, and my Dad gave it to him.

 

[dvalandingham1]

Re: How do I determine what year my motor is?

Any suggestions on how to break the fly wheel free easily?

 

[JDH 47421]

Re: How do I determine what year my motor is?

Hello boaters. I'm new here and would still like to know the answer to "how do I determine the year" and any other information I may need to know about a motor. JDH