Hi all! Help with Goodyear 5hp 1954 (3564)

[camaroman]

Hi everyone – Im new here, and never thought id ever get into vintage stuff but me and my wife both love old school! We are trying to musted together a little dinghy to match our 74 searay –

Picked up 2 old motors at a swap meet for 35$ – they both have some parts missing.. however I am quite keen to get them running. There is a guy here with a bunch of used motors (2 hrs drive away) –

Anyway – for starters how can I check the primary/secondary coils? I have the flywheel off – Im familiar with condensers and points etc, but no idea about these odd and awesome little things!

Once I have spark I think I can move along – all the carb bits are there, incl some cork plunger kind of thing which Im sure needs work 0 there is a black goo at the bottom so will get to that later –

For now id like some tips on testing the coils 🙂

Thanks!

[camaroman]

Ok – I found an article explaining how to test for ohms – my primary is at 106 and secondary at 3700. I also set up the coils according to this pic at 0.012" on A and B = to or slightly greater( i set it at 0.014).

If I spin the motor with my drill – I get a zap from the wires – however it seems the spark is weak. Im waiting for an inline tester to arrive.. tested condensers and I think theyre good (one was giving odd readings so i put in a new one).

Ill clean the points 2moro and see if that helps..

[jerry-ahrens]

To really test the coils, you will need an old school coil power tester, such as a Stevens or mercotronic machine. Those coils however are very reliable, and are probably just fine. Throw in a couple new condensers, clean the points, re gap them and you should be good to go. if the plug wires aren’t cracked I’d leave them be and reuse them. Hope this helps!

[camaroman]

Hi – thanks ok will do. picking up spark testers today. Was really hoping to get sth happening – plus the missing parts are a pain too.. Anyway – ill see how it goes. Wd love to get it running!

[frankr]

Not a 1954. But that’s OK. If it was, it would need coils for sure

[garry-in-michigan]

I believe your Sea Bee dates to 1949. In 1950 they changed to a magneto with magnets in the flywheel. The primary coil resistance seems high to me. Be sure you have a good ground connection. Dirty insolation can mimic a leakey capacitor. This goes for all the pushrod breaker points. . . 😀

[chinewalker]

Those coils are relatively bulletproof. Chances are a no spark condition is either dirty points or a bad condenser.

[garry-in-michigan]

I believe except for the fuel tank, side covers, and auto-rewind starter, this Gale built outboard is the same as yours. . . 😀

[camaroman]

yes looks identical really –

I now seem to have a weak spark issue –

I have tested both coils (they arent cracked), they have similar winding results.. iirc 3700 on secondary, and primary is low, maybe 100 (could be wrong here) anyway – I put in 2 new condensers and plugs.. snipped wires.

On the inline spark tester I see a yellow / orange spark on both.. however when I insert a plug and hold it against the body it doesnt spark between the electrodes –

points gaps checked / cleaned with brake cleaner. I set the air gaps between coils at 0.012 as per the manual and a little bigger on the B gaps (0.014)..

Any ideas? Could the coils be weak?

Wd love to hear some suggestions – thanks!

[fisherman6]

What is the gap set at on your open air spark tester? It should jump at least a .25" gap with a blue spark to have good results. .38" gap is better, but it seems odd that you get a spark at all on the open air tester and nothing across the plug gap in open air. Have you tried different / new spark plugs?
-Ben

OldJohnnyRude on YouTube

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