Vintage twin's or modernish single?

[ashedd]

I did some searching around on here, and just figured I would get some opinions.

I have a 1955 16' plywood runabout. This winter I'm doing some work to the hull and I will be stripping everything out of the boat, it currently leaks pretty good. I'm also going to do a repower. I bought the boat with an '81 35 hp evinrude longshaft on a shortshaft transom lifted a couple inches with a wood block. I got it running great, but it started popping out of gear above 50% throttle. I could only get 22 mph out of her with that setup, and was a struggle to plane. I didn't want to mess with the clutch dog this late in the season so I pulled the evinrude and put my trusty '68 20 hp johnson with hydrofin on there till the end of the season. The johnson gave me 18 kts yesterday during a speed run all by myself.

As you can see the lines of my boat are pretty sweet, and the '68 johnson actually looks much better on there than the 35 hp rude. 20 hp isn't going to cut it for me, and honestly the 35 wasn't doing it either. I know a guy locally that has the small cabin version of this relatively unknown boat and he went to 50 hp to get everything moving good with a full load. He said it moves out pretty good with that hp, he tried others. So I went and found a nice '88 48 spl evinrude(rated at 50 hp), and I figured I would paint it to match my boat and also rebuild the transom to accommodate the longshaft.

But now after seeing my '68 johnson on there I'm starting to think I want a vintage outboard. I pretty much dislike the 50 hp range of omc's from the '60's, but the 50's are right on the money for the period look. I shy away from any mercs that old.. In a perfect world I would find about a 50 hp 1950's omc. I have the opportunity to pick up a pair of shortshaft '57 30 hp johnsons, both needing some work.. I don't think a single 30 would cut it, so the two would have to go on there. My boat has no data plate, so I can only guess of the max hp and engine weight I can get away with. I also use similar boat designs online as a guide.

What is everyone's opinion on using the 48 spl or a vintage omc? And/or the twin vintage setup. My concerns are fuel/oil consumption, electric start(the 30's have it), noise, reliability, and the lower units on the 30's are really small looking. I'm not overly crazy about having to tweak high speed jets along with the slow ones every time I go out either, I have a hard enough time finding the idle sweet spot with my 20 johnson.

My boating conditions are mostly a large lake, channels, and occasional protected saltwater excursions in the sound. I always get a little concerned with engine failure when I go out far on the lake and I'm the only one floating in 500' water. I have a vhf and guess I could get a tow, but still. So I always assume that newer motors are more reliable, but I know that's not always the case. If I could stomach the price I would get a new 50 hp 4 cycle honda and call it a day. I've looked at te homelite/bearcats too, but I like the common place omc's better for parts availability.

One interesting issue, with my shortshaft johnson I've lost some(a lot) directional stability. Seems like I'm constantly making steering corrections. The longshaft rude wasn't nearly as bad, for obvious reasons(big rudder). I'm not sure how dual engines would affect the stability. I would like to get it more stable, it's annoying having to constantly steer the vessel as I putt by at the 7kt speed limit.

 

[Scott Danforth]

nice looking boat. Im an old merc man myself. a single motor is always less complicated than twins.

 

[steelespike]

Wander could be a hull characteristic A deep V may wander. motor cushion mounts may be worn or loose.
If its just a natural wander pay close attention and anticipate a correction and knot over correct.
No question twin vintage motors are cool.Would do standard paint.Those 57s are Thirsty.I wouldn't be surprised to see about 5 gallons per hour(gph)
at wot. on one motor.And thats at 24:1 oil ratio. And on top of that they are rated at the power head and the twins aren't as fast as a single 70.
I think a 1980s OMC 50 would do a nice job if your not looking to go real fast.And a healthy 50 will use just a little more fuel than a single 35. from the 50s.
If you picture your boat as a 15 footer with no windshield you have our kit boat in the early 60s with a 18 hp Evinrude Actually would do 26 to 27 mph
occasionally.

 

[fishin98]

. The 48SPL was/is a pretty nice motor....nothing fancy, but I'm sure it would do a better job than ANY 50's or 60's motor....but then again if you are PURIST and want a PERIOD motor to match your hull...well then it's up to you. I would stay with a single motor however....especially when you consider HP>WEIGHT.

 

[64osby]

I think the old Merc's have real style and would look great behind that hull.

Yes they have harness issues. Yes they are hard to work on. But they look awesome.

Had a 67 Merc 500 for almost 10 years, it ran great and looked sharp. The older ones look even better.

 

[ashedd]

No Title

This one has been for sale here locally for awhile now. Sounds great according to the description, but 70 hp seems a little big, and the cowling is too tall for my taste. Although he says it's a rare short shaft motor.

 

[Chris1956]

A vintage OMC motor of 50 HP would be the "famous" Fat-Fifty. It would push that hull to no more than 27MPH and use all kinds of fuel, but it would look pretty good. IMO.

A much better choice would be that 48 spl.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Even though they are twice the labor and maintenance you can't beat the sound of two vintage engines running side by side. Alternately while not exactly the correct vintage, the Homelite 55 looks like the school geek and would impart a certain cachet. The engine was taken from an English car--I forget which one, maybe Austin or Riley-- so parts other than the lower unit should be easy to come by. I remember back in the late 60s-early 70s how they would advertise the great fuel economy with testimonials from satisfied owners.

 

[oldboat1]

can do a period motor with a matching kicker, as an option (a get-me-home motor). Sounds like you are a saltwater boater -- good idea to get freshwater motors at the outset, then just maintain.

btw, the '57 would be a 35: