Elgin Outboard Impeller swap

[Buccaneer]

Whilst the turkey was roasting I got some more work done on the Elgin,
and some “after” the feast…… before I feel into a coma from all the
turkey.
The original shift cable, or at least the one that was in the motor,
was 1/16 braided cable, and all frayed hopelessly on the bottom end.
The top end has a ball molded onto it, which the shift lever acts upon.

The cable has to be fed in from the top, through the shift lever hole,
then fed down 18″ or so, and out a 1/4″ hole in the bottom
of the driveshaft housing, where it couples to the gearcase cable,
via a funky clamping fixture.

I dug around and found another cable that actually had a ball on the
end. It was quite a bit skinnier, but plenty long. I think I saved it
from one of the snowmobiles or 3 wheeler.
I ran a long piece of wire up from the bottom and wrapped and taped
it to the cable and fed it down the driveshaft housing, and out the bottom
hole. It took a few tries, but patience finally paid off.

It was a PITA to affix the two cables to the connector and get the slack out,
but when tested, I now have a “neutral” that works.

The rest of the time spent was more fun, attaching clean,
painted parts with no problems.
The carb is on loose for the photo op, as I still need to make a new gasket
for it.
Soon the dreaded gas tank body work will have to start.

Prepare to be boarded!

[billw]

That is without a doubt, the luckiest 7.5 hp Elgin, ever! When it came off the assembly line, it had no idea that it was going to be lucky enough to end up in your shop and not the scrap pile, like the many thousands of others. I will be interested to see if you think it’s a good runner, like so many other West Bend engines were, and how it compares to a 7.5 OMC product.

Long live American manufacturing!

[Buccaneer]

I have a 7.5 hp Evinrude Fleetwin that I went partially though, and I thought
it was a real dog, but perhaps it was just “worn out”.
I see that I posted yesterdays work to my wrong thread last night……
must have been “brain fog” , or “Thanksgiving Hangover”!…… from food that is!

Prepare to be boarded!

[Author]

Posts