Re: 1973 Evinrude starflight 135

[Don]

Yeah, 73 was the "hydro mechanical shift assist", no electric. Very reliable gearcase actually. I always loved the graphics on the 73 V4s, along with their presence on the James Bond movie.
That being said, please know that these engines had pretty high compression and were subject to detonation/preignition damage. 73 was also the first year for the magCD ignition sysems on the V4s, so there were some improvements to the original components, but I’m sure any surviving engine would probably be updated by now. The other thing to keep in mind is that sometimes that high compression caused low cranking speeds that affected the ignition systems ability to develop decent cranking voltages for a good spark until the engine was actually running.
The only other thing I can think of is that the pistons used on the 73 135s were unique (along with the crankcase), wrist pin location was slightly different on 74-76 models. A very easy mistake to make during a rebuild, gee I’ll bet you can’t guess how I know that….
All that being said, Frank please let me know if I have misunderstood your post, sure don’t want to contradict you. Don