Re: You are gonna love this question...
just curious Zephyr about fuel consumption on the older motors, I have heard that motors from the 40s and 50s got horrid fuel milage. Also I did not even know that they made manual shift motors in the 60s, but I admitly know little about the older motors because I steer clear of them..if someone is selling a boat/motor with anything older than the 80s I just pass it up. again I think it is cool to restore old stuff. not trying to run down older motors or those who enjoy them.
Well, that is true, with the old fat fifties and other big V-4's, but the smaller motors, like the big twins and little twins really aren't any worse on fuel mileage than the newer motors. If they are, it isn't by much.
Yea, the electric shift technology came about, in the 60's on the 40hp's and the V-4 models, but there was also a lot of manual shift models available, which was much more reliable and less troublesome, according to what I hear from people who owned them. The true fact of it is, the only thing that has plagued these old motors through the years, is
neglect And I put that boldly, because I and many others here have brought antiques back to life, that others would have thrown in the scrap pile and found that they just needed some basic, needed maintenance done. It's nothing uncommon to find a 50 year old motor that still has the original coils in it and still able to fire. Tell me where you can find that reliability in the automotive world. LMAO!! It is my belief that the outboard motor is one machine that is built with reliability that the automotive world would only dream of having. There are still so many 50+ year old outboards still running out there and that stands the reason that they don't have a whole lot of value. Take my old 1955 Johnson 5 1/2 for instance. This old booger is almost 60 years old, but it seems like every week I find one like it, for sale on Craigs List.
I do agree with your analogy about the newer motors. If a guy goes out and buys a newer motor and takes really good care of it, he will get decades of trouble free service from it and not have to do much to it, outside of tuning it up and changing the gear oil in it. One thing you will find, when you get your hands into a lot of these motors though, is how often you shake your head as you go into a motor that someone ran for ten+ years and never realized that "oh....there is oil down there?" "You have to change the oil in that??"
That is why old motors need fixin' and need a good wrench to bring it back to life.
Most fishermen, believe or not, don't know much about outboards, that's why they feel more comfortable about running the newer stuff. You don't neccessarily need to be a mechanic to own one of the older ones, because I have seen plenty of original, unrestored antiques that was darned near show room condition. Why? Only because they had caring owners who kept them up.
I realize that you're not tryin to run down the old motors and those who enjoy them, but I am here to tell ya.....it's fun and a bit addictive.
as some of us here have found out. So, when you get that 67 GTO restored, I want some pics dammit.
There's a lot of good helpful guys here too, who are willing to give great advice on your new motor, or your antique.
Everyone is welcome here
