TOPIC: Got a New Boat Today!!!!!!!!!! 1961 Shell Lake

Pick up this today at a swap meet. 1961 Shell Lake. Not sure of the model so if anyone could help me with that part that would be awesome. enjoy the pic. the black boat is my CarrCraft Maverick boat im in the middle of bringing back as well. Enjoy






and the stern light

Congrats, looks really cool. i picked up a 1965 shell lake cadet about six weeks ago.there cool little boats. Mine sat in a garage for the last 15 years. A little tlc and tinkering with the super seahorse 35hp and been on the water 6 times already. so good luck madbohunk safe boating

thank you. think i found the type of model she is, a Vixen. found this online today.
mascola.com/insights/retro-ad-of-the-week-shell-lake-boats-1961/

Robert, your bow lite does not look good on your boat. I think you should send it to me. lol you have a neat boat and i'm glad there are more shell lake boats out there. greg

frog wrote:

Robert, your bow lite does not look good on your boat. I think you should send it to me. lol you have a neat boat and i'm glad there are more shell lake boats out there. greg

Lol. send me your address and ill ship it your way. just kidding, i love that bow light. i have the flag pole as well that sits in the hole behind the bow light. the guy forgot to give it to me when we picked her up but its in the mail on its way.

Hopefully this weekend ill get a chance to check all the wiring and figure out why the motor is not getting any spark. has all new ignition components but im pretty sure the wiring is wrong. we will see

Nice boat! That stern light looks just like the one on my Buehler.

sweet im loving these old lights. only thing wrong with my stern light is the lens at the top is just about to break off. only one little piece holding it place. need to find some way to fix it.

You might ask Dave / Scott at Marine Services Unlimited. They remolded mine, and might still have the mold. www.marineserviceunlimited.com/

thanks for the info. i already emailed them and i will let you know what they say. how much did they charge you if you dont mind me asking.

hooked up my lawn mower battery to see if the lights work and they do. took a couple pics. the stern light works as well and the horn too.



thought these where pretty cool pics

Glad to see more Shell Lake(s) resurfacing. My '67 Sunliner was a basket case before I rebuilt the whole topside and interior. I don't have the cool bow light though

Robert, great find, cool lights!!!!!!!

Cal, keep looking, I've seen them pop on Fleabay once and a while.

Bob

i spoke to Dave today. He still has the mold. He should be answering your email.

Flag came in today!!!!!!!

Well I messed around with the boat motor today. The guy we bought it from said it wasn't getting spark but he was wrong. We got great spark along with good compression. Sprayed some starting fluid in the carb and she fired off so she isn't getting any fuel. Going to do a carb kit and hopefully that will get it going.

That's great! One more thing to check off the to do list

Don't forget to check you fuel pump (diaphragm) and the pick-up tube in your gas tank Robert. Both of these items can cause fuel delivery problems as well.

checked the pump and everything is fine there. disconnected the hose right at the pump and it was pumping fuel. then went over to where the fuel goes into the carb and was getting fuel there. so we are guessing the floats and the the needle valves are stuck shut. looking for a carb kit and i found one but its 145 bucks. OUCH.

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I got the motor up and running. My dad and I rebuilt the carb. there was some crap plugging up the jets. We put it all together but she still didnt want to run, not even on starting fluid. Finally i sat down and re-read the instructions for the new CDI box that the previous owner installed. I came to find out he never took out the volt suppressor. removed it and long and behold she fired off.

We took her to the river and then the stater solenoid gave us issues but got it working and she would not fire off. Come to find out that when we turned her over she was still losing spark but if we just tapped the key and did a very short crank it fire right off. We got it started and then found the water pump wasnt pumping as it should. Pulled her out of the water and the pump should be here tomorrow and new solenoid is awaiting install. Hopefully Sunday we will be able to take her out and open her up. We will see and i will update to let you all know how it goes.

Excellent Robert, aren't these old boats and motors fun!!?!?!? lol

Bob

oh yeah so much fun. lol

Got the lower unit dropped today and i need to get a couple grommets.but the water pump looked brand new and wasnt chewed up at all and still very soft. dont know why she wasnt pumping but ill put the new one in and see.

Make sure all your passages are clear. The other thing to consider is if the impellor is TOO soft and when its spinning it's flexing too much and not passing he water. Check it's flexibility compared to the new one. It should be fairly stiff.

Bob

yes sir. i was able to blow air through all the passages. got some new seals that will be here wednesday and ill be putting the lower end back together. then sunday back to the river. hopefully this time we will be flying up and down the river.

anyone know anything about these old motors. i was wondering if the plug i am pointing to in the picture opens into the water jacket of the power head. i really want to add a tell-tale to this motor. i know its pumping water as its coming out the exhaust port below the motor casing but a tell tale will make me fell sooooo much better. ive been searching but i really cant find anything about this plug. thanks in advance.

little update after the river on sunday. if ran fine but still having issues starting. weak spark if you turn the engine over for a few seconds. she likes real quick strikes of the key. but once its started it fires off every time. going to run new wires to the cdi box and see if that helps. thought i blew the motor on sunday when i was flying down the river testing. heard a loud bang like i hit a log. then went to start her and she sounded really bad. turns out the flywheel bolt was torqued down by the last owner when they replaced the distributor. didnt even think of checking that but thank god its not the motor. scared the crap out of me though. this upcoming sunday will be another test and tune day.

Looks like just a blank screw hole to me. Might want to go on the JEGO site. Looking at a parts breakdown it just shows a blank, no screw.
www.marineengine.com/parts/johnson-evinrude-parts.php?year=1961&hp=75&model=V4AL-13&manufacturer=Johnson§ion=Powerhead+Group

its a 68. in this one it says its a plug. guess i could always see if i can get it out and take a look to see whats inside.

www.marineengine.com/parts/johnson-evinrude-parts.php?year=1968&hp=100&model=V4TL-14B&manufacturer=Johnson§ion=Powerhead+Group

took the plug out today and it goes right into the water jacket so i will installing a tell-tale here in a couple days. hopefully it works well, we will see.