Need info on a Gale 25 hp

[Opie2211]

I have a Gale 25 hp outboard motor that I would like to put on my boat but can not find any info on them at all, except for pictures. Are they rare? Where can I find parts for them? Where they made by Johnson/Evinrude? ANY info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Need info on a Gale 25 hp

Gale was a division of OMC along with Johnson and Evinrude from the 30s up until about '64. Gale outboards were not sold through Johnson and Evinrude dealers but rather to department stores and such who gave them a private label. Mongomery Wards, Goodyear, Eaton's (Canada), and various others sold them at one time or another under the names "Sea King", "Sea Bee", "Viking" and more. Others got sold as Gales.<br /> <br />With some exceptions, Gales are functionally equivalents of their Johnson or Evinrude siblings. Usually a few years older and with the horsepower understated or tuned back a bit. Do you have a model number?<br /><br /> Additional info:<br />duckworksmagazine.com/03/r/columns/max/08/index.htm

 

[Opie2211]

Re: Need info on a Gale 25 hp

Yes, I have the model number. It is: 22D17B<br /><br />Thakns for the info so far!

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Need info on a Gale 25 hp

That's a 1960 25hp Gale. It's a 35.7CID engine and functionally equivalent to the '56 30hp. You're engine shares a lot of parts with the Evinrude/Johnson "Big Twins". Going closest to most different, it would be 30hp, 28hp, 33hp, 35hp, '58-59 35hp, and then 40hp. They made these engines from the early 50s through the 80s.<br />So lots of consumable parts are available, some both aftermarket and OEM. Water pumps, gaskets, ignition components, seal kits, are all easily had. Anything durable can be found on ebay or at an outboard junkyard. You'd have to do some hunting if you were after a set of oversized pistons, but you would likely be able to find them.<br />Click my "man-next-to-house" icon - that's my 28hp. <br /><br />Fuel/Oil mix is 24:1 (use 87 octane gas and TC-W3 outboard oil)<br />Spark plugs are Champion J4C gapped at .030". Sometimes the J6C is worth a try for better trolling.<br />Lower unit fluid is OMC/BRP "HiVis" or other brand 90 weight outboard gearcase lube.<br /><br />If you need anything else, just ask.

 

[steelespike]

Re: Need info on a Gale 25 hp

Your motor is a 1960.It does share many parts with similar E/J motors.These may not interchange directly year to year.<br /> Most likely Ignition parts and impellers will interchange fairly easily.A well established E/J dealer should be able to help with parts as you may need to compare your old parts.<br /> All kinds of ignition and pump parts are readily available back to the 1950s.Its just a matter of determining where your Gale parts fit in.

 

[Opie2211]

Re: Need info on a Gale 25 hp

Wow, thanks for all the info! This site is great!<br /><br />Mine looks exactly like the one in your picture. I do have some other questions though, if you would happen to know. What is the gap on the points? When I got the motor, it did not have any spark going to the plugs, so today I took the flywheel off and the key was sheered. I also found that one of the points was not opening up at all. <br /><br />Another thing...in the picture of your motor, there's a red wire coming out of a red valve/solenoid of some sort close to the cylinder head. I have a wire like that and also another wire that runs to the other side of the motor (forgot exactly where it ran to) but anyway are those ignition wires? Are they supposed to be connected together to complete the ignition circuit?<br /><br />Thanks again!!

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Need info on a Gale 25 hp

Point gap is open .020" max. The flywheel key is a J/E dealer item since it's a little different in size than a typical hardware store one. Part number is 120395.<br />I don't know if you've got the earlier or later crankshaft. What torque you use for the flywheel will depend on that. I can confirm that if you like - just measure the diameter the top of the tapered part of the crankshaft and the bottom. I'll compare.<br />EDIT: A much simpler way is if the point cam (lobe on the flywheel that pushes the points open) is part of the crankshaft or a seperate peice. <br /><br />Also, it'll be a good idea to follow the procedure here to refit the crank to the flywheel. If you do all this right you won't have to worry about that key shearing again.<br /> http://forums.iboats.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=28;t=029310;p=1#000022 <br /><br />That valve/solenoid thing is actually a vaccum switch. It's designed to ground out the bottom cylinder's point (killing spark on the bottom cylinder) if the manifold vaccum gets too high for too long. The Big Twin is a bit of an unstable engine. If you suddenly snap the throttle closed when there's no load on it, it can take off all by itself. The vaccum switch causes the engine to stumble in that case preventing the run-away. <br /><br />If the other wire traces back to the top cylinder's point, then it is indeed one of the ignition wires. But for this system you want them disconnected for the ignition to work. The kill switch connects the top point wire to the bottom point wire, which shorts them out through each other and kills spark on both cylinders. So it works opposite of how you're thinking. Careful when the engine is running, both those wires bite.<br /><br />Hope that helps!

 

[Opie2211]

Re: Need info on a Gale 25 hp

Ok, thanks a million! I'll check on the crank tomorrow in the daylight.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Need info on a Gale 25 hp

Sorry, that part number is wrong. I think it uses key 302602 but try to confirm that with the dealer - I'm not certain on it at all.<br />EDIT: Got that number confirmed.