Evinrude RBM questions

[bill-loveland]

Finally tore into my pile of rowboat motors and have a bunch of questions. I’ll make them separate posts instead of one looooong post.

Q1) Pics show two 1914 (ish) RBMs. On the back of the crankcase where I’ve scrubbed off the grease, I have numbers. 6375 on the second and 25385 on the first. I only have the serial number tag for the first and it says 19016. Do the numbers on the back of the crankcase mean anything?

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[RICHARD A. WHITE]

Yes they do, but as I recall they don’t help with the year.. That being said We have a Chapter called the Southern Ontario Rowboat Motor Chapter, and a site that can be linked from that chapter site that list identifying features of these wonderful motors. Contact Prime Minister Chris Scratch and he can assist you in getting set up on that site..

For what it is worth I am not sure those tanks are ’14… As I recall one of the identifiers on the tank is no ribs = pre 1914.. is the fuel cap large or small? Small being less than one inch in diameter.

http://www.richardsoutboardtools.com
classicomctools@gmail.com

[bill-loveland]

Fuel cap is small. From Jack’s site, it looks like the B 19016 might be a 1913.

Here’s the serial number tag, next to an earlier one:

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[bill-loveland]

Q2) Here’s a pic showing the two driveshaft tubes – the one on the left has two "spacers" above the tilt quadrant bracket – a short one and a tall one – the upper one (tall) bolts to the casting above it. The motor on the right has neither. Pics on Jack’s site of the 1913 B and 1914 B don’t show the "spacers". Any idea what they were or what purpose they served?

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[bill-loveland]

Flywheel mags – here’s a couple pics of a 1914 magneto flywheel.

Q3) What does the mag plate look like? Is the coil and timer setup the same as the later flywheel magneto systems?

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[RICHARD A. WHITE]

If the fuel cap is small then it is a 1913 tank or earlier…but the tag is a 1913. I have a spare 1913 tag and it is VERY close to your number…mine is 19036 I think, it is at home…Actually Steve Roskowski bought it recently.

http://www.richardsoutboardtools.com
classicomctools@gmail.com

[bill-loveland]

Here’s some pics of an Evinrude flywheel (#2) off a 1915 Caille RBM. They had filled in and painted over the patent info identifying it as an Evinrude product. The inner shell is severely corroded – looks like it was assembled as a formed unit in the factory and I can’t imagine I could get it out and another one in. I have a spare (#3) that would work, but it has a couple of differences – no mounting hole for a knob and it has the cam lubrication port. I could drill the outer shell and solder on a nut for the knob, but would it throw off the balance?

Or is worrying about balance necessary on these transom shakers?

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[PM T2]

As far as I’m concerned, for as much sense as they seem to make, the numbers on the back of the crankcase were probably phone numbers of the gals that Bess Evinrude hired, and probably stamped in as a joke by the guys on the floor, along with a hang tag that said "For a good time, call"……..

I bet, somewhere, there is one stamped 867-5309…..

The "spacer" of which you speak is actually a shock absorber sort of thingy that was not installed on Evinrude motors until 1914. Makes sense that if one has it and the other doesn’t, the one with the 1913 serial number should be the one that doesn’t.

One of your serial number tags looks like it only has 3 or 4 digits on it. Is that a lighting trick, or is it truly a tag from a pre-1913 model?

Best,
PM T2

He's livin' in his own private Idaho..... I hope to go out quietly in my sleep, like my grand-dad did..... and not screaming, like the passengers in his car...

[bill-loveland]

Yes, the little tag is serial number 3679. All I got was the tank – the motor was long gone.

Have you ever seen a complete 1914 flywheel mag?

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[bill-loveland]

Maxim silencer – how early was this offered?

Did Lockwood-Ash offer them as an option?

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