Go West young man!

[david-bartlett]

Today I picked up a West Bend Shark 25hp. This motor was owned by the father of my best friend growing up. I can remember riding in the boat with this motor.

Electric start, original controls and tank as well. Tank has rust holes in the bottom, but I was mostly interested in the fuel connector so not a problem.

Skeg is a little shorter than it should be, but I can have that built up when I get to it. I need to talk to the PO again and see if he can find the key.

The downside is that these big motors are hard on my back and storage space!

[wiscoboater]

Nice motor Dave,
I have a Golden Shark 40, Original controls, runs like a top. I bought mine because it had a special place from my youth. These motors never got the respect they deserved. When I was a 16 year old kid my friend had a Golden Shark 40 on a 16′ wooden boat that was beat, water logged and ugly. I had a 57 Feather craft that was beat, light weight and ugly ( they were all we could afford at 16 ) with a sweet running 57 RD Johnson 35hp. He beat me every time we raced. Not just bye a little either. Those things are fast fine running motors. And the George Jetson look is just plain cool.

[seakaye12]

Very cool David. It’s so rare that we can actually acquire a motor that has **HISTORY** from our past like this West Bend has for you. Not just the same model motor…..but **THE SAME** motor. A motor that you had your little kid-sized hands on way back then….

You sure live in a wonderful place; I passed through Bethel this past summer when I was driving the 2 from Bangor over to Vermont. Just a spectacular part of the country; I say that as a former "nutmegger" from Connecticut. I have always loved New England.

[lotec]

David – a great find, and even cooler that you know its history, looks to be in good shape too. (The super fragile Lucite shark on the hood is intact!) I love these motors and have the 12hp and 16hp models with the same "George Jetson" styling – also several of the WB Elgins including a ’58 35hp.

Mechanically they are excellent and easy to work on too – in most cases they run faster than their OMC and even Mercury counterparts – they are also reasonably quiet and smooth. I’ve gotten comments from people who think the ’58-’62 WBs are "uglier than a palsied wart hog," (actual comment!), but I think they are way cool looking. The fact they don’t appeal to everyone and are the "Rodney Dangerfield – don’t get no respect" outboards of the classic era just makes them even better in my estimation!

With the exception of Rusty M’s super awesome Golden Shark and Jim M’s fleet of WB 7.5hp Elgins, I wish more of them showed up at our Yankee Chapter meets. As I’ve spent more time running and playing with them, these West Bends have really become my favorite motors of the classic era. Enjoy it!!

[david-bartlett]

Thanks for the comments guys! I am excited to finally get this one home. I have been actively chasing it for over a year. It has spent at least the last 20 years in a heated basement, so should be pretty easy to clean up. Not in any hurry for this one as I will need a boat with a steering wheel first. My wife will love that!

Art, the Lucite Shark on the left side is long gone, so I will be looking for one. Who knows.

Does anyone know if the starter is positive or negative ground on these. I have read somewhere that it could be positive ground. If anyone has a wiring diagram I would love a copy.

Wannabe,

Cool story about your youth, and makes me want to race this one against my RD-16.

Seakaye12, If you come this way again, stop in and we can make some smoke!

[wiscoboater]

It is positive ground. Be very careful when hooking up battery and working on wiring. If it gets hooked up as a negative ground for even a second, bye bye rectifier. I have a manual with wiring diagrams for that motor. Send me a PM with your address and I’ll send it to you. I have 2 so the spare may as well go to a west bend brother. Liangs outboards has quite a few NOS parts if you should need any.

[david-bartlett]

Wannabe,

Thanks for the info and the offs. I sent you a PM. I am familiar with positive ground electrics, having had a 1933 Dodge truck, but I can use all the reminding I can get.

No if only I can find an AlumaCraft FD…………….

[lotec]

I am pretty sure it is positive ground – at some point they did change to negative, though I think that was later in the 1960s.

I am not 100% familiar with the 25hp from 1960 – based on what I’ve seen on the ’58 and ’59 35hp & 40hp I believe these motors could be equipped with several different magneto, starter and alternator options based on what the owner wanted. You will need to look to see what you have – it is possible they standardized things by 1960.

From what I’ve seen on the 35hp & 40hp there was standard (Wico) mag for the manual pull start, standard (Wico) with electric start, deluxe mag (Fairbanks Morse) with electric start, and the battery ignition automotive coil style (I don’t know who made it) with electric start and flywheel alternator. Again, this may not be comparing apples to apples so you’ll need to do your homework.

I think finding the correct wiring diagram for your exact model and mag/starter/alt options will be very helpful in answering many questions and making sure about the polarity. If you let me know what you’ve got, I’ll be happy to take a look in my West Bend stuff and see if I have something that would help you.

[david-bartlett]

Art,

Very generous offer. My model # i2 25021, Serial # 2285. I believe it is a 1960 model.

Thanks, David

[jeff-register]

David,
We raced go carts back in the early 60’s running twin Macs or West Bend motors. Both were very fast & sought after brands! We had a ball with them!!
Good luck with your motor.

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