Simplex vs. Eas-A-Matic Starters – Evinrude Lightwins

[kevinrude]

A few questions regarding the interchangability of these two starters:

(1) The Simplex originally came with a wire core starter rope and attached anchor whereas the Eas-A-Matic just used a regular (nylon?) rope that you knotted at the end. I have not had success with just knotting a nylon rope into a Simplex as the knot eventually slips through. Does anyone have any tips or tricks for using "new" rope in the "old" starter?

(2) Does anyone know of a vendor who supplies the "old" wire core starter rope?

(3) Can I just take the pulley out of an Eas-A-Matic and put it in the Simplex so that I can use the "new" style rope? I’m pretty sure that I did this with a 1956 5HP Gale at one time.

Thanks.

[Mumbles]

I’m not sure if you can swap the pulleys or not but if you can, I think you would have to swap the flywheels to as the starter pawls are different. Besides the pawl design, the later pulley itself is shaped differently as it is oval shaped instead of round where the rope wraps around it. The oval shape makes it easier to pull the motor over against compression.

Are you tying a proper double knot on the end of the starter rope? A few drops of crazy glue will help to stop the knot from coming undone. The next size starter cord up might prevent the knot from pulling thru the hole but I’ve never had that problem with the early CD’s after switching to nylon starter cord. A small pin (finishing nail) pushed thru the knot would sure stop it from pulling thru.

[frankr]

Nope, you can’t swap the pulleys. Not sure about the whole starter, but if you can you would have to swap flywheels also, as just said, above. Personally, I use a figure 8 knot. But it is not a good solution. If you do, be aware that if you pull it to the end of the rope, it is sure to cut the knot off.

Which brings up something else. When they started using nylon rope in the simplex starter, they added a pin that the rope goes behind. The pin prevents pulling the rope clear to the end and cutting the knot off. So…whenever putting a nylon rope in a simplex that previously had a wire rope, I like to swap the pulley to one that has the pin. Trouble is, you soon run out of pulleys. So I drill the pulley for a pin. But it is too thin to hold it. Solution is to remove a pawl and drill in just the right place below it, install pin, and reinstall the pawl. Works for me.

BTW, use the proper hard braid starter rope. That soft mooshey stuff from wal mart doesn’t get it.

[lindy46]

Just finished replacing the rope on my 1947 Sportsman with the Simplex Starter. I ended up getting some 7/32" starter rope from Ace Hardware for 39 cents a foot. It is the hard braid and has almost no stretch to it. I drilled out the hole in the Anchor (#17) to remove the old solder and drilled all the way through the anchor. Then I fed the rope through the hole and pushed a finishing nail through the rope where it exits behind the hook on the anchor. I cut off the ends of the nail flush with the sides of the anchor, and then momentarily "flamed" the end of the rope which sealed the nail firmly in place. Put it all back together and so far, it’s working fine. Now to see how it holds up with time.

[gjonz]

Put the rope through a small washer and the tie a knot so it won’t pull through.

For wire core rope…pull the brass end off by unsoldering it. Then squeeze the brass back into a basically round shape. Drill it out if need be to allow the rope to fit through it. Tie a not in the nylon rope. Then replace it in the recoil. This take some strain off the rope when starting. It works for me.

You may need to squeeze the brass a bit to fit it back in the pulley.

Good luck!

Greg

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