West bend made Elgin 7.5

[ryanjames170]

what are your guy’s thoughts on a West bend made Elgin 7.5HP engine, my dad was looking at one the other day and it looks decent on the outside but but im curous are they worth while buying or are they sort of hard to get parts for or make run right?

[amuller]

These motors are not complete orphans because West Bend morphed into Chrysler which eventually ended up as part of Mercury. Impellers, seal kits for the lower unit, etc, are available. The ignition is usually WICO and OMC coils can be put on the laminations if necessary.
Do you know what year it is? The fiberglass hood motors use a plastic starter pinion that is a weak point and not always easy to obtain. Pull gently….
IMO these are not bad motors. Many people who try them out like them.

[ryanjames170]

its a model 571 58781 SN on it is 781 8254

this engine and a few others im looking at how ever this one is more being looked at by my dad.

[phil-b]

http://www.yankeeaomci.org/feature_outboard-2.htm
says 1957 and gives gas/oil mix, points gap, modern spark plug number

And here’s a page on Elgins (by a late AOMCI member who loved oddities):
http://www.oddjobmotors.com/elgin.htm
(the first page is probably his work as well, he was President of the Yankee chapter)

[jerry-ahrens]

The West bend motors are one of my favorite Classic era motors. Actually West Bend made some good stuff, and they sold/ran very well. That’s the reason there are still so many of them around. I believe impellers, fuel pump diaphragms and coils are still available should you need them. Carb gaskets can be made from bulk gasket material.

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