RIP 1977 Evinrude 140 two stroke...

L

Lance Pearson

Member
One of the things I thought would likely need changing when I bought the boat to modernize it was the engine which matched the boat's age. Did not know when last run or how well. Took it to a dealer who ran compression on it and pull down with compressed air and it failed miserably. Cylinder pressures would have maybe made it run but they were all over the place 20 psi apart and it looked like two of the four cylinders had been worse. The mechanic said it looked to him like the motor had been overheated so we decided it was not worth trying to rebuild it which they flat refused to do saying it was a sort of foolish effort on an engine of that age which was also relatively inefficient when done if it even worked any better.

Fortunately, what I have in the boat allowed for that when I offered and bought it.

They had a superb Etec 175 2008 with low hours from a 21' bass boat where the owner just traded it for same thing but new to get another long term warranty. His price initially was too high but two days later with continued negotiation he got his price well down and included all the new parts like controls, cables, etc. tach and labor to put it on my boat and they removed the old one which will go to the scrap yard since existing would not work and we shook hands. They are putting it on the boat as part of their list this week and next as the parts come in and they fix the rest of the list..pull side tanks, remove any filter screens, new fuel hose, add spin on fuel and water filter and all new fuel hoses so I know when they are good. Just waiting on parts for the motor part. 20" size which will fit the transom..that's what came off it. The boat will have quite a bit more power with the big v6 two stroke with oil tank, fuel injection and tons of torque without the weight of a similar four stroke.

A reasonable compromise on his part and mine and I know exactly where the motor has been and he has taken care of it for the owner. It looks brand new. Did not ask about the hours preferring a known entity versus buying off ads, etc.

When it comes back all I have to to do to use it is add the vhf and gps/chart/sonar unit and the swim platform/ladder on one side, weather permitting.

Getting there....clean gelcoat and polish is last. The lights are all led bulbs now and I have two busses for negative and fused with spade fuses for the new items.

By late spring when weather permits we should be boating.

Lance
 
Being a 20" , I'm guessing it has the double cuts in the transom. Might be a good time, while motor is off, to glass that seam instead of the factory aluminum strips.

What is the weight difference in the two motors?
 
The old v4 was around 290-300 lbs, the 175 etec is around 420 lbs. As to the compression on the old outboard, if it had been sitting any length of time, it needed to be started, warmed up, and decarboned BEFORE any compression tests were performed. I bet the numbers would greatly improve if that had been done.
 
old engine

I am aware of the weights and so on. The old engine had wildly different compression readings and he also did compressed air pull downs on it and confirmed that the engine had been severely overheated as well as quite probably scored cylinder walls. The new to me one is just a better engine in terms of power, fuel usage, etc. as well. It was not worth spending money on the 1977 V4 old tech two stroke given all that. Could a dedicated mechanic with the right tools clean it up? Possibly but I'm not that guy so without the knowledge I chose not to throw good money after bad to find out it was extremely dated anyway.
 
Seam on transom top

Yes, the aluminum cap will be removed and at the very least the top of the whole assembly will be coated with epoxy to keep it dry. The cockpit floor when a hole was drilled to mount a bilge access port was very solid and dry and the transom sounds very solid but to keep it that way I will seal the top of the transom then probably put the aluminum back on as a cap. Good idea.
 
Weight.

Very accurate numbers given. The other alternative is a 4 stroke and for a 175 that number goes up to a ball busting, not going there, approximately 500 pounds approx. The 175 etec two stroke seems to me to be a fair compromise on power and performance with weight. It will use less fuel than the 1977 V4 two stroke would have used. I have decided to keep the two 20 gallon side saddle tanks and just carry a couple of 6 gallon spare tanks I can siphon into them for longer days until I know its usage pattern when it is done and ready to use. Still despite springlike days too early for boating here for me. April and late March will be different stories. 26F here this morning but wee had two days of 70 plus with that coming again..very much above normal temps at times but winter is not quite done here yet.
 
You won't need the spare 6 gallon cans with the ETEC.

Have them put on some aluminum transom supports when they hang the new engine.
 
Boat now back in storage and covered. It's been repowered with a 2008 etecc 175 hp with 300 hours in super shape and new busses, new vhf, new gps/chart/sonar with fuel tanks cleaned, new fuel hoses, new spin on fuel and water filter and runs like a scalded dog with a new prop just under 50 mph. I still have the cosmetics to do on the hull but it's sound and ready to use...new seats in and bulkhead opened so bilges drain correctly which they never did since Wellcraft never put the hole in! Access door put in and hole drilled and teak redone. It actually looks pretty good.
 
It's ready to use, cosmetics to come over time

In storage now but this link shows before with the 1977 useless Evinrude v4 140 that is now in the junkyard after being checked and the new to me 2008 300 hours etec dark blue 175hp that with the wrong prop on it turned 45 mph in the river. Now has approx 14" x 19" instead of 21" pitch prop...they were checking for max rpms and the 21" did not get it there. Have not used it yet.

Boat has been cleaned since these photos while work was being done also. Has new access to bilge port, effective bilge drains, battery, onboard 120 volt charger for driveway use, new vhf, new Garmin 541s gps/chart/sonar and new spade fuse busses for them, new fuel hoses, new spin on fuel/water filter and both saddle tanks removed, cleaned, reinstalled, new manual backup compass. Both fuel fill fittings were not flush and so they were cut and refit to be flush now as well. Lots of little things. New seats on as well. Variable passenger pedestal is now drilled, tapped and fixed as the holding piece did not work right. Nice, open cockpit for my two dogs to come along. I put gray rubber matting down for them to have footing and cushioning. The cosmetics where on the coaming at one corner there is some gelcoat cracking and it all needs polishing but that needed to be done after the work to make it more modern and functional. Will start using it weather permitting in next few weeks solo to get used to it. The guys at the shop who put the prop on it and tested it said it ran really well. I just added a pipe cleat to each side to the back of the bow railings so there is a mid ship cleat on each side for light dock lines with easy access as well. A stainless hose clamp holds the cleat to the railing. Not for storm duty but for docks works fine. Beat drilling holes in the coaming. When I picked it up in Florida the trailer needed some work, the electric winch was non functional and was replaced by the selling dealer before I towed it home and new trailer lights as well. the boat was strapped on with a ratchet cargo strap tied in knots on the trailer ends. After a 611 mile trip home up I 95 I got to work making a plan then starting it. All that's done and it has a regular strap and the cargo strap is in the trash. It comes on and off the old ez load trailer easily and all the government paperwork is long done as well. Will put the registration numbers on in the next couple weeks. Have all that but was getting tired of boat work so put it away to take a break from it for a while. I also found when I put it away that the license plate hanger was cracked so I have a new one of those to add as well. Boats take effort to get them modern. This one is 40 years old....so modernizing it was fairly easy especially since it was only simply wired in terms of electronics. All their brackets long gone and cleaned up. When I took the original trailer plate off its sticker had expired in 2003 and the Florida reg. sticker in 2005 so I would guess it sat in a shed or under cover for 12-15 years which accounts partly for the excellent hull and deck, cockpit floors condition. Cosmetics will include all new wellcraft graphics all over the boat..in the house now, compounding the gel coat and waxing and dealing with some surface cracking on the coaming and a couple areas to re glass where someone banged into something like the back of the sliding bow hatch piece and the glass cracked. Have the materials for that and will coat those areas with linear poly single coat paint when done.

My original schedule was to get it functional and in the water by fall and I'm way ahead of that. With the new motor and letting the dealer do some of the heavy work for me, it's functional now.

https://borzoibrace.smugmug.com/Trip-to-Florida-to-pick-wellcr/As-brought-home-then-currently/
 
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