Re: Evinrude Model A? RBM – Help needed.

[PM T2]

Yeah I posted some crap last night when I was tired, but I took it down because I didn’t think it was vicious enough. Actually I wanted to re-write some of it and was too tired to do it, and because I pretty much do what I bloody well want anyway. At any rate, here it all is again.

I have read enough of these posts that I decided to break my self-imposed silence only to make the following suggestions.

The spreadsheet that you have questions about was prepared through diligent work by experienced people who have spent countless hours WORKING on these machines, examining every component, making measurements and comparisons up and down the line. We recognize that it cannot necessarily be considered as infallible, but at the same time, it is one of the more reliable bits of information that have been created and saved for use by people who find one of these motors and need help figuring out what is correct and what isn’t.

Case in point – if the list says a 1914 motor has a two-ring piston in it, and you have a motor with a 1914 serial number that has a three ring piston, the answer is NOT that it must be a 1916 or later motor; the answer is it’s a 1914 motor that had a later piston retrofitted for whatever reason.

The fellows who are pointing you toward the motor being a 1914 model B are correct, at least for the powerhead section of it. The flywheel you have is unique to the 1914 model year. Kees is right, if it was battery ignition it should have holes in it. as for the gear foot, it would not be the first Evinrude rowboat motor that has had a later model gearfoot fitted to an older powerhead. Richard White made the point that lower units wear out while the brass ID plates do not. I’d go one step further with that concept to include the powerheads, as they typically are capable of outlasting multiple lower unit assemblies I once acquired a 1922 Evinrude motor that came with two spare lower units, both of which were worn out to the point of being useless unless they were rebuilt with new bushings and shafts; also, the foot that was on the motor also needed rebuilding, so there was some evidence that my 1922 Evinrude had outlasted the lives of three different lower unit assemblies.

The reason we know that 1915 was the FIRST year for the Model A with reversing foot is because a) there’s no mention whatsoever in the 1914 Evinrude literature or model guide of a motor with a reversing foot, b) all the Evinrude literature of the time touted the 1915 models as the first with reverse and also with the Maxim silencer muffler as standard issue on that motor, and c) the patent granted to Chris Meyer is dated as such. Simply put, there is no such friggin’ thing as a pre-1915 Model A Evinrude. Case closed.

One thing the fellows have not pointed out is that your gas tank has had the sediment trap section castrated to about half it’s normal size, and the method for feeding fuel from the tank to the mixer valve is all wrong. The sediment trap is supposed to have its front face even with the front right tank panel, where a bronze casting is soldered in place that incorporates a drain feature as well as the pipe thread port that accepts a male end of the mixer valve nipple.

Again, as Richard White stated, you have a very good and RELIABLE piece of information staring you in the face. I’m referring to the brass ID plate. It is in impeccable condition. The numbers are clear and sharp. It is not damaged or distorted in any way. Pay attention to it. Honestly, it is the most reliable bit of information that you possess as far as putting an accurate date on your motor. One can make all kinds of assumptions and guesses, but numbers don’t lie.

OK, all that aside, here’s a simple way to solve your dilemma – acquire enough parts to put a later powerhead on top of the Model A tower and lower unit, and also acquire enough parts to put together a proper 1914 Model B, that way you have two motors to play with and you can debate with your fellow Aussies about which one came first, the B or the A…….

And since it was brought up, no, it is NOT a hard and fast rule that ALL Model A’s are flywheel ignition, and all model B’s are battery. The A or B does not even refer to the ignition system used, it only refers to reversing or non-reversing foot. Hence, you have derivatives such as the “AA” or “EE” (four cycle twin with reversing foot, and by the way, the four-cycle twins were apparently not offered with a non-reversing foot, so don’t go looking for an Evinrude “AB” four-cycle Big Twin) or the much later LA and LB twins of the early-to-mid 1920’s.

Having said that – I have seen well over 100 model A Evinrude’s in my time of collecting, and none of them were fitted with battery ignition, they are all flywheel magneto type. This jives with the model A reverser being considered a “deluxe” or improved model that evinrude would have preferred to sell. Although it was advertised as being available with battery ignition (its in my files somewhere, don’t ask me to find it anytime soon), its obvious the vast majority of the A’s were not sold with a buzz box. The model B was also available with flywheel magneto IF the customer desired it, but the non-reversing model B may have been considered a step down from the A and the battery ignition would have been less expensive.

I would also go on record as saying that I’ve seen probably close to a hundred model B Evinrudes, and many of the 1914 B’s had flywheel magneto, but after 1914 the percentage of battery to flywheel mag motors really jumps. I have seen a few post 1915 model B’s with flywheel magneto, so they do exist, but the battery ignition types were far more prevalent. Again, probably due to available cost savings of an A versus buying a B.

One thing in common – Regardless of which model motor it may have been on, I’d say far better than half of the original condition flywheel magnetos that I’ve run into did not work, and their owners have reverted to wiring up a buzz box to run them instead of spending mucho dinero to have those coils re-wound.

Transversely, the model C and D Evinrudes have a more even split between flywheel magneto and battery ignition. For instance, I know of a 1915 Model D that runs very well on its original flywheel magneto, but another 1915 Model D I worked on (very close in serial numbers) never had flywheel magneto, and was battery ignition from day one.

Won’t even venture into the territories of the 3.5 HP large rowboat motors, pumper motors, Evinrude detachables installed through the hull as canoe motors, or inboard engines.

One last FWIW – I’ve been collecting, repairing, rebuilding, researching and operating rowboat motors for almost 25 years, and I know a lot of stuff, but there are folks out there more knowledgeable than I, but I’m still learning new rowboat motor stuff every day. But not many of them are willing to go out on a limb like I do at times and say "this is the frigging way it is, so get used to it". I’m not tactful in the least, and I make no apologies for it either.

Hope it helps anyway.

Best,
The Artist Formerly Known as T2
aka Christopher Scratch
Prime Minister, Southern Ontario Rowboat Motor Chapter
Cross Seagull/Detroiter, Koban, and Lockwood S.I.G. Leader
Special Features Contributor
Antique Outboard Motor Club Inc
Soon to be President of the Antique Outboard Chapter for the Criminally Insane

He's livin' in his own private Idaho..... I hope to go out quietly in my sleep, like my grand-dad did..... and not screaming, like the passengers in his car...