TOPIC: Project of the week....

I 'found' yet ANOTHER motor- Chicagoland appears to be a great place to find these old beauties. This one is a 1959 Evinrude Lark- PERFECT for my Lake N Sea...



It is intact except for the shift handle- The guy I bought it from told me (very mater-of-factly) that you HAD to take that off to get it off the boat... So it is on the boat, with the controls. Where's the boat?? Who knows, at this point. The motor was removed 15 or more years ago (I'd guess more), and the owner hasn't seen the boat since... Probably out in some field somewhere.

It was FILTHY from years (decades, rather) in a garage. I wish I'd have taken some 'before' shots...

The entire cowl had a nice coat of paint- Looked like house paint. After a good sanding, priming, and repainting it's looking pretty good-



The best part is all the 'Bling'... Since this is a '59, it's got all the golden jubilee badging. And- Under all that paint- It was in GREAT shape! After LOTS of cleaning, buffing, and polishing-



I don't plan on touching the rest of the motor- The paint isn't perfect, but it's not too bad- A bit of patina is nice!

This should look great hanging on my Lake N Sea... And, its a great project to keep me busy while I'm up here shipkeeping.

Of course, with this motor and the '57 Big Twin I also got last week, I don't think I'll be flying home this time... Looks like a rental car, for sure!

-Andrew

nice motor andrew,it looks very good,heck the 62 35hp that i got with the lido is covered in white stuff,but yours looks good inside and out,have fun buddy,john

Andrew,
Great find! It will look good on the Lake N Sea.

Bob

Congrats on scoring the Lark Andrew, looks like you found a good one. Have you had a chance to run a compression check yet?

Thanks.... She's a nice one, for sure.

Compression over 100 in both, with just a quick squirt of oil in there to lube it up. Although, for what I paid, Even if only the emblems were usable, I'd have done OK... Despite the paint, they cleaned up VERY well- There were some tiny scratches here and there, which I sanded out with 1000 then 2000 grit wet/dry, then polished them with Meguiars plastic polish- They look AMAZING.

A: CONGRATS on the score.. I do like the trim bling..You would LOVE the weather here. MId 60's all week . Got wax on the Sedan today & some varnish schedule for Monday.

A mid-size rental car can haul them- I hauled two big twins in a Ford Focus: one across the back seat, one (sans lower unit) stood up upside down in the front seat. Depending on the opening size of the trunk, you may be able to get one in there instead. Definitely need a second set of hands and some towels/blankets to keep the seats clean.

That's why I still love my old Dodge Shadow. Fold the rear seat down, get a ton of room. Two yrs ago, went to an AOMCI meet and went home with 4 Lightfours, a Zephyr, and a Waterwitch. None stacked- all laid flat.

Yeah- I figure they'll fit somehow, if I try hard enough. They aren't THAT big, really. I had a Dodge Nitro rental that would hold them both nicely- and I had a Toyota Matrix hatchback thingey once, too- It was a compact, BUT the seats in back folded flat, so it had a TON of room in it...

Of course I'll cover everything well with blankets and a drop cloth to keep it as clean as possible (although the motors are ALMOST spotless now- I've been cleaning them- Even broke out the Q tips ), BUT I also pay the extra $12 or so a day for LDW. It has come in handy before when I had a little accident...

-Andrew

A vacation motor. Used when the family went up to Wisconson for 1 week a year. I used to live in Wheaton so I'm familiar with up north vacations. Funny, now that I live in Detroit I still go "up north".

Nice find on a motor.

Bwana Don wrote:

A vacation motor. Used when the family went up to Wisconson for 1 week a year. I used to live in Wheaton so I'm familiar with up north vacations. Funny, now that I live in Detroit I still go "up north".

Nice find on a motor.

Yeah- It looks like it has seen VERY little use. I know that it has spent most of it's time inside, too... A lot of that time.

For one reason or another, a previous owner had decided to repaint the hood. Now, they did a GREAT job of masking some of the emblems (not the lark ones, they just painted right over those!), but they brushed on some kind of house paint- My guess is porch enamel. It looked OK from 15 feet, and in a small Craigslist photo, but it all needed to come off.

I repainted it, and wet sanded it today- I'm pretty happy with how it is turning out, I popped the emblems on temporarily just to see how it looked



Nice shine already-



I'm not done yet- I sanded it down with 1000 then 2000 grit, then hit it with some compound. It was all hand work, since I'm on the ship and don't have my power tools... But I've got time. That's why I bought the motor- To give me something to do!

The paint needs to harden before I try to really polish it- Which will take a few more days. I like to sand it sooner, though- when it's still softer. Saves a lot of work, if you're careful!

-Andrew

spectacular!

A; Need TWINS.?? Someone is talking to ya ,,back HOME..!! 59 LARK $150 chattanooga.craigslist.org/boa/2214845624.html . Across the cove. !!

great job andrew,as always you do fantastic work,john

NIce... I don't think I NEED twins, but you never know... Check it out if you get a chance- They are nice motors.

Thanks, John.

Post some more pics when you get it all put together. I could use some inspiration. My '59 is in pieces all over my garage right now.

It's not a "NEED" it's a "WANT" Twins are in!!
I'de grab that other Lark and sell the 57. The 59 already has single line and tilt lock for transporting.

I would, if I were home! But, I'm still working in Chicago.

The '57 already has the fuel pump added to it, so it's a single line motor, too.

She's got a freshly painted cowl, too-



Yeah, I know- It's not QUITE the right color.... It should be the lighter shade, But I like the dark blue better, and since I was repainting the entire motor anyways, I figured I'd go with this... The cream color is still the original paint, it was in pretty good shape, and since the decals were intact, I left 'em/ I've already located the replacement for that broken medallion.

I'm debating if I want to re-paint the Golden Javelin now... It's a bit rough in spots, and would REALLY shine with a new coat of paint. Either way, it's a gorgeous motor- I'm glad I found it!

-Andrew

The Lark hood is complete-





I'll let the paint cure a little bit more before I try to put the final polish on it, but I'm pretty happy with how it looks... It'll be NICE on the Lake N Sea.

The plastic trim & medallions came out great, considering they were all painted over... I stripped them, sanded them down with 2000 grit to get the scratches and chips out of them, and then polished them up with plastic polish.



Some of the silver & gold foil was gone, so I replaced it... They aren't perfect, but they look pretty darn good to me!

-Andrew

beautiful work,as usual andrew,john

Thanks, John!

The '57 is repainted and MOSTLY put back together-


I like how the darker blue turned out.

I didn't bother putting the lower unit back on yet, since I need to replace the impeller, and won't be doing that 'till I get back home.

Why is it that I always have a couple of extra parts every time I put something back together??

As usual Andrew, a beautiful job. I'm jealous.

Looks great.
I like the darker blue also.
Neil

I too really like the look, great job Andrew. (I'm a big fan of the "Resto-Mod" look.) Been day-dreaming on color schemes for the CCSR, you may be on to something there!

Thanks...

I am usually someone who likes to keep things original, or as close as possible, But in this case, I liked the color of the LATER Evinrudes better... They switched to a darker blue, more like this one. They changed the cowl design a bit, too, in 1958.

The other 'issue' is money- The 'exact' factory matched paint from NY marine runs $20 something a can, plus shipping. Figure 2 cans, plus primer, and you're going to double the cost of the motor in paint alone. Now, I can justify that if it's going on some motors, and for some purposes, but for my 'needs' this motor will be just fine. It doesn't even have a boat to go on at the moment, since I found the Lark!

This motor was also an experiment- I've painted motors before, but not QUITE how I did this one. You can call this one a 'hardware store job', as there are NO specialty marine products used. The method I used was recommended by a friend who's painted LOTS of motors this way, and they all look great- So we'll see. If anyone is interested, I can share the tips and finer points, but it's really nothing too special. It looks good now, we'll see how it stands up long-term.

-Andrew

I just bought a 56' 15 hp Fastwin and will be restoring and painting her in the near future. I would be interested in hearing about your painting techniques.

Let me guess, you didn't take it all apart and paint each part separately.

andrew i happen to think you did a great job,it looks good.
its your motor,and i know very well of your talent,john

50s Flash wrote:

Let me guess, you didn't take it all apart and paint each part separately.

No, I took MOST of it apart... There really isn't much of a way around that, if you want a good looking paint job. As you know, it is very time consuming, but with all the angles, curves, and hard to reach places there is simply no way around it!

A previous owner had repainted parts of this motor, part of it was a copper color, part of it was a brushed-on enamel that was kind of close to the color of the original motor, with no metallic, though. So, I took most of it down to bare metal. A wire wheel on a grinder does wonders!

I used a dremel and hand sanding to get into all the nooks and crannies, and got it as clean as possible.

Then I primed it. I see a lot of discussions and debates out there about the 'right' way to prime- everyone seems to have an opinion. Since it's aluminum, You need a primer that is designed to coat bare aluminum. Lots of people seem to like Zinc Chromate- and there are also primers made and marketed for outboards/outdrives. There are also a few primers at the local home store that will work just fine- Sometimes the fact that something doesn't say MARINE on it only means it's going to cost you less, not that you can't use it on a boat!

At the advice of someone who's used it MANY, MANY times before, I used Rustoleum Bare aluminum primer. It comes in spray cans, goes on well, and leaves a nice white surface. I admit, I was a little worried about using rustoleum, but I've seen his motors- and they look FINE after a few years, so I gave it a shot. It is a lot less expensive than a 'marine' primer, and perhaps more importantly, it's more readily available.

One thing to pay attention to when you choose a primer is the recoat time- This is the time between when you first prime until you have to get your top coat on. Rustoleum is immediately to one hour. After that, you've got to wait 48 hours. It's in your best interest to get everything primed, then move right on to paint... The paint will stick to the primer best within the recoat time- It'll be an actual chemical bond between the paint and primer.

The paint on this one is a rustoleum as well... Their cobalt blue metallic is very close to the actual evinrude color... So close that you'd be hard-pressed to tell if they weren't side by side. I was worried about longevity, but again referred to someone who had used it before, and was VERY happy with the results over time. We'll see how it goes!

If you keep the limitations in mind, its amazing what you can do with rustoleum... There are a lot of people on the I-Boats forum that paint the entire boat with it. Do a google search for it, and you'll find a number of cars that have been painted with it- with amazing results. No, it's not on the same level as a multipart sprayed on finish, but then again it's a lot less expensive, and also within reach of anyone, since it doesn't require a lot of specialty equipment.

Thanks for the description. I will probably follow along. By the way, I posted a pic of the Emblem you made for me on the Emblem thread if you care to take a look. You never did send me a bill

It's on the house... It only took a few minutes. I like how the looked!

I love the motor. I don't always tear them all apart, but the two yellow motors were total rebuilds even some port and head work, and there was a lot of part swapping, and for show motors I didn't want the screws painted. I love rustoleum. It's not just for rust. I used Rustoleum Accent to do the interior of my All American (17 cans.) That motor will look good on something, although I like the 59 Lark better. If you ever need anything for them let me know, I have a lot of spare parts.

Yeah, the '59 lark is a sharp motor... I just picked up a second one, too- Also in nice shape- so now i've got twins!

I'm curious about that 'accents' paint- How does it hold up?? I looked at that when I did the interior of my Glasspar, which originally had Zolatone in it. I ended up kind of simulating the finish with a 'spatter' paint job-



which looks pretty good and hides the imperfections well.

That interior is a long story. First coat was a 2 part poly base, then 17 cans of Accents, then a clear-coat with a nulling agent, so it wouldn't have a gloss, and not remove the specks when you walked on it. Total cost was over $500. The Gel-Coat for the outside was about $120. What's wrong with that picture?

longshaft on a shortshaft transom?

sometimes on boat parts ..as long as i want black,white or grey i use tractor and implement paint,sold at tractor supplys,its a very durable,tough paint,i even painted my steel beams under my deck of the house with it 6 or 7 years ago and its still in good shape,john

I remember that deck project. Never did see how it turned out, but I bet it outlasts the house. We spend the summer on the deck.