TOPIC: Need some help - 1957 Evinrude Big Twin 35 hp

I picked up the following for $60 including the original pressure tank. The motor has sat in storage for around 20 years and is seized tight. Looked nice and clean and I thought it would make a good project till I opened it up. Rust, and lots of it behind the intake cover.

As usual, always more to a project than meets the eye!! I will work on getting it unstuck and cleaning up and then see about spark, gas, etc. Its good to have a project!!!













Rust in the intake!!

Congratulations. I had several Johnny-Rudes going back to 1955. The "Big Twin 35" is the iconic version from the fifties. A great outboard and worth restoring IMHO, but knowing the work involved, better you than me.

Jerry

Very simple setup and easy to work on. You'll need to pop the cap for sure. The magneto coil more than likely cracked/split open, points rusted. I have the puller if needed. Take lots of pictures..Lots and lots of pictures. Don't toss anything even if you think it's junk. The smallest parts are sometimes hard to find. Pamps might have parts, old stock and Simonars might also carry some. Marineengine.com carries parts also.

Thanks both of you for the input, and nice restore Jerry! The medallion that is on the starboard side of the engine cover is cracked. I see that you had a decal there on yours. Any idea on where to source another medallion? Where did you source the paint to freshen it up?

63LStriton wrote:

Thanks both of you for the input, and nice restore Jerry! The medallion that is on the starboard side of the engine cover is cracked. I see that you had a decal there on yours. Any idea on where to source another medallion? Where did you source the paint to freshen it up?

That Big Twin is not mine. I have worked on those engines but never did a full restore. Sorry if I mislead you, but I got that super nice pic off the internet.

Jerry

No problem!! Just got excited that someone could help lead the way to source what I needed.

Messing around with the Big Twin. Have the intake, exhaust and heads off and sprayed about a can of Deep Creep into everything I could see of the internal engine. Still stuck tight!!

Popping off the head gave me the unpleasant surprise of seeing that the PO had tried to unseize it with a hammer and screwdriver through the plug holes. Even assuming I get it moving, I will probably need to do something with the pistons.







Currently I am trying to take off the lower unit as it is probably stuck in gear and that is not making my job any easier. I took off the connecting bolts and it is loose, but doesn't want to drop off. It looks like there is another cover right on the very bottom of the gear case. Do I need to take that off too to disconnect something? My guess is a shifting lever, but I am just guessing. Please let me know which direction to go

I will post a few pics for reference, including the serial number.


Any suggestions would be appreciated - as long as it isn't give up and part it out!!

Just trying to bring this back to the top. Help!!!!

I don't know if this will bump you but here goes.

Think I figured it out via youtube. Looks like the shift linkage is attached to the top end. Powerhead needs to be removed in order to take off the lower unit as it is the only way to access the nuts that attach the linkage. What was Ole thinking????

It will also work out because I would have needed to figure out how to get to the linkage and remove the nuts to change the shaft going to the exterior shift level. Somehow over the years in storage it got dropped too many times on the lever and it sheared off the shaft.

Who knows, taking off the powerhead might speed up the determination if this is a viable restoration or if I am just dealing with a pretty pile of blue parts.

It's not necessary to remove the powerhead to pull the lower unit. Take a look at the side of the exhaust tower and you'll see an oval cover with (2) screws; pull this cover and underneath you'll find a brass connector link with (2) bolts. Remove the lower bolt and the lower shift rod will come out of the link as you pull the lower unit.

When reinstalling the lower unit, take a large flat-blade screwdriver and tap it into the joint in the brass connector, to spread it just a bit. This lets the lower shift rod slide in a bit easier.

Now, the critical part, when you have the shift rod up into the connector, make sure the curved part of the end of the shift rod lines up with the bolt hole, so the bolt has clearance to pass by the shift rod and engage with the threads on the other side of the coupler.

If the shift rod isn't properly aligned, either the bolt won't go thru at all, or the threads will be damaged.

HTH..........ed

Thanks Ed!!! You probably saved me a bunch of hassle as I was going to head home and pull out the wrenches tonight.

Can I get the brass rod to the exterior shift lever out without taking off the power head? I am assuming that I need a new one as it is brass and can't be welded. I don't have anything to braze it

I will let you know how it goes. It is still good and stuck so I might need to take everything apart anyways. Any suggestions for freeing up a siezed Big Twin?

Took a look at the motor tonight and did not see any access ports. Put some photos below to see if you can direct me in the right area or determine that my model doesn't have the access port

Left side of the engine looking at it from the boat. The bright brass circle is the shaft that runs to the shift lever that was sheared off.



The other side




Let me know if I am missing something or if there is no access plate. Let me know if you need better pictures

See the pics.......ed

Good morning Ed, you wouldn't happen to have one of those diagrams showing the water pump impeller on my 1961 Evinrude 40HP model 36022 would you ? I'm going in blind but I'm still going in. lol.

Ed - Thanks for putting up with stupid questions. I was looking for connections on the top end!! Got it off this morning with no issues

Looking up the exhaust I am seeing some mouse nest material. Probably a big mess!!

I will probably have to pop the powerhead any way, but at least I know the bottom end isn't seized too. Everything looks nice and oily on the bottom end, so hopefully no problems. I will take a look at the impellor, but just turning it a little it sounded complete. Didn't turn it too much - just wanted to see if forward and reverse worked. I will take a look at it anyway, and replace if I have fire on the top. Otherwise I will leave it as is for the next owner who needs a Big Twin Lower.

Still waiting for your silver bullet on how to get it unstuck!!! I will probably end up needing to crack the case as it looked like there was a fair amount of rust on the top cylinder rod and crank area.

Firstglassproject wrote:

Good morning Ed, you wouldn't happen to have one of those diagrams showing the water pump impeller on my 1961 Evinrude 40HP model 36022 would you ? I'm going in blind but I'm still going in. lol.

Hi, according to this serial number chart, there is no model "36022" in a 40hp flavor for 1961:

www.marineengine.com/parts/model_guide_pre80.html#e40hp

However, there is a 35022 model, could that "6" actually be a 5?

Any of these 1961 models listed at Marineengine.com will have the impeller diagram same as your motor:

www.marineengine.com/parts/johnson-evinrude-parts.php?year=1961&hp=40&model=

Here's the parts breakdown for the gearcase of model 35524 and the parts would be the same for yours:

www.marineengine.com/parts/johnson-evinrude-parts.php?year=1961&hp=40&model=35524&manufacturer=Evinrude§ion=Gearcase

HTH.........ed

Yup it's a five. I've been hauling rocks all morning and my fingers are getting stiff.lol. Thanks so much for all the help. Now I know what I'm looking for.