Thanks for all the suggestions. I seem to have resolved the problem. There were some rough spots inside the flywheel by the magnet. I ground them smooth and now nothing is binding. Not sure why I didn’t notice any binding before.

On another note, I got a genuine Evinrude / Johnson (BRP) tuneup kit and sure enough it was made in China. One set of points wouldn’t open wide enough with the eccentric adjustment screw and I had to manually open them properly. The other set wouldn’t open at all and I had to remove the eccentric screw to get them to open. I adjusted them to. 020″ and checked timing with the mark on the flywheel and two marks on the mag plate. I found that in order to get the points to break when the flywheel mark was between the two marks on the mag plate, I had to set the points to .022-.023″. Just a heads up for anyone using the “new” points made in China. They will most likely not be correct if set to 020″. Use the timing marks to be sure.

Parts fit fine on the mag plate – just didn’t work when the plate was put back on the engine. I could have done some bending to get them to work but it was easier just to remove the eccentric and manually adjust them. Once set and locked down with the set screw, the eccentric does nothing anyway. I guess they don’t care about making quality parts for our “old” motors since they haven’t been made for so many years, are relatively few in number, and the technology has completely changed. Best to look for NOS parts or refurbish the old parts. The old points that were in the motor weren’t too bad – I cleaned up the surfaces and they were very usable. The problem was the other end which rubs on the cam. Very worn down. I guess we need to figure a way to make a new rub surface for the old points! A great project for some innovative AOMCI member.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by lindy46.