Please give me a recommendation.

[Lowell]

I'm thinking of repowering my 16 foot Enduracraft, it has a 40 hp Mariner now. I want to put on a 50 to 55 hp Evinrude 3 cylinder with electronic ignition (no points),with a electric starter. I can't afford a very new model so it would have to be an older one. Can anyone give me a recommendation on a good year or model to look at. It needs to be a very reliable low maintenance type of motor (I know I'm asking a lot), but the Mariner starts on the 3rd pull after sitting for a month. I'm open to hear ideas and comments from you experienced Evinrude owners and users. Thank you, Lowell

[ChuckB]

Lowell;
You're looking for a 2 cylinder JonnyRude like Chuck Carey and Greg James use on the Skagits. Years from 76 to late 80's are the really good trouble free units. The 3 cylinder models are 70 and 75hp and then you would really fly!
Check Craigs and Tim Mattson or I could check one out for you. Come to think of it, Tim still has a 3cyl long shaft 55hp Yamaha for sale...
ChuckB

[Tim_Mattson]

OMC details

Lowell,
The years you are looking at came with the Mechanical Type Choke Fuel system that later gave way to the VRO/Squirt-to-choke set-up.
Both can work when all is well.The Squirt choke version has a Maintenece Port that allows Fogging and De-carbonzing thru a Shrader valve like a Bike Tire has.It actually Primes with real fuel.
These make it easy to clean all carbs equally,and can be done while running without having to open up carb baffles or use the straw to poke thru a tiny hole,which usually only gets half of the cleaner where it needs to be.
The mechanical choke has to slam shut with no gap for it to work right,and they sometimes have a tendency to hang in a wierd way if you manually activate it at the carb lever itself.
The newer mid to late 80`s also added an air mix screw so idling can be finer tuned as the carbs age,older ones don`t have it.
As far as the VRO system you may find on your new motor,I still use them but run 100:1 as a precaution,with spark plugs changed every 50 hours as well as the De-carb routine.
Some plug it off and just pre-mix for good,usually those who don`t want to test the system or troubleshoot the warning gizmos.
Buying just a few of the VRO parts can set you back so I see why some do it manually.
Non Vro will sport a basic Mechanical Fuel pumps that are much cheaper with no Electrical internals.
Oh Chuck ,The Yamaha is a 55 TWO cyl.
A little lighter than a 3 ,but just as much bang with less fuel......ask Greg or Chuck and they`ll agree.
The 3 cyl will get you a few more MPH but it needs you to bring more fuel for when you throttle it up.
Final detail to decide on is whether to have power trim and tilt which always gives you ability to feather the angle of skeg and prop which changes the angle of attack on the hull bottom.
Your Short hull may be easier to drive if you can start trimmed in,then go out as you gain speed which will ease steering torque PLUS lowers drag ,thus giving you better economy.
A manual trim motor will be somewhat lighter ,have fewer items to replace or fix and can kick up quicker when striking bottom or a hidden object.Trimmed motors can take a massive impact before releasing,so shallow water river boaters tend to favor those.
My 3 cyl is a bit tall on my Seafair and the rear seat has to flip down to tow it.The 2 will fit better with not much lost in power.
Tim M

[Lowell]

Thanks Guys

Thank you Chuck and Tim for giving me the education. It sounds like the VRO is best to stay away from. Do the models before 1976 have points, and if so how often do you need to clean and gap them? Also if testing the compression what would be a good reading? And Tim you said the more cyclinders the higher the fuel use, a 3 cyclinder will burn more than a 2 even though they are the same Hp, correct?

[ChuckB]

Lowell;
Models before I think 73 have points, the models before 75 have elect shift lowers, which can be difficult to maintain, and are not readily available as donors.