Re: 1957 Evinrude 18HP will not start

[mistermusky]

In all deference to Richard, I reset things according to his new instructions, including squirting fuel directly into the cylinders, and the motor still gave me nothing.
The absolute worst part is: I have found another issue that might explain things, but for which I have no explanation.
About three weeks ago I set up two saw horses and a hunk of plywood to act as a temporary workbench while I worked on and painted some of the balusters and handrails from my deck. I’ve been working on the table off and on. I haven’t been out there for about a week because it’s been raining almost every day. Yesterday, I got my can of paint from the shed and approached the table to do some work. The sunlight happened to glisten off a small metallic object sitting on the table. As I got closer to look at it, I recognized it almost immediately. It was the pin that holds the float in place in the bowl of the carburetor. My jaw hit the ground as well as my paintbrush. This is impossible! How did it get there? I had re-assembled the motor several weeks ago and have been going about the business of getting it running. The table I found it on was only put up a couple of weeks ago. WTH???

I checked with my wife to see if she found it and left it there, no luck. I certainly didn’t find it and then forget I put it there, and no one else has been in my yard during this time period. I checked the bag of parts from the carb kit I used and found the old pin, float and needle valve. The ONLY explanation I have is: when I was re-assembling the carb with the new parts from the carb kit, the float pin must have fallen out without me noticing it. Somehow by divine guidance and intervention it wound up on my paint table to keep me from going insane. This will have to be something I ask God about when I see Him someday. We’re going to have a real good laugh over this one.

SO TO RECAP: With the hinge pin missing from the float, the carb will never work right. Since I am still not getting spark (assumption) I am going to re-test all the components, especially the coils, to make sure we’re all good. Obviously, I will have to remove the starter and the carb and re-install the float pin. Basically I will have to start at square one, which is where I was four months ago.
Does AOMCI have a licensed psychiatrist on staff to help keep their members from going COMPLETELY NUTS! 🙂 I hope so