Reply To: 1961 Starflite III 75 question

[Don]

Yep, the two models sure look identical, no way to differentiate them from a picture….
Is this an engine you are thinking of buying? If so, perhaps the owner can give you some pictures with the engine cover off….Basically, if you see a recoil starter on top, then he has the standard model with no alternator/generator…The generator could have been added as an accessory though..In that case, it would look like the picture above…
The electric start engines didn’t come with charging systems back then, you would have to add them as an accessory… 1961 was kind of a cross over year, 62 introduced the electric shift engines…Electric shift engines required a charging system…So, in 61, you had the models with the new alternator system, but they still had manual shift.
You really don’t need the charging system if you have a decent heavy duty battery, unless you are running all sorts of accessories…Just give the battery a trickle charge once a week to keep it up.