First Outboard with a lot of questions

"I just got a '73 Ted Will

"I just got a '73 Ted Williams Outboard 4.5Hp, model number 217-5946-3. I am going through the whole engine before I even try to start it. I have already checked the carb out and it 'appears' to be ready to run. I do want to take the lower leg off so that I can visually check the cylinder wall through the exhaust port for carbon buildup and scoreing, but the top half of the leg doesn't want to come off. I took the 6 screws out that hold it on the motor, but it just won't seperate and I don't want to damage it. Any tips?
I also want to check the information that I have found so far. The plug gap should be .30 inch and the point gap should be .20 inch gap. The gear case by the prop should use 80/90 weight oil filled to the vent hole. The impeller in the little water pump likes to break up which causes the leg to overheat the engine. Also, how often do you grease the leg pivot(I think thats the right term) where the motor turns on the clamo assembly and what type of grease do you use? Is this all correct?
Finally, once I get it ready to start, what is the recommended starting procedure? Don't try recommending ether becuase I have seen many a 2 stroke destroyed by ether. I use the standard fuel mix in a smal spray bottle and spray it straight down the carb with it wide open(been doing it that way on snowmobiles for several years with excellent results).
When it comes time to mount it to my canoe, what is the little ring on the clamp bracket for? I am guessing that it is for a safety line, but am not sure(this is my first outboard experience).
Finally, how well will this little guy push a 19 foot canoe through the water? I have used a 28 pound thrust trolling motor with decent results.
Thanks for any help you can give me on this little motor. The motor itself is like an old friend in the fact that I have worked on many small 2 stroke engines in small equipment(lawn and pleasure) and have missed them since moving into a more urban area."

"Thomas, can pass a couple of

"Thomas, can pass a couple of things along to you. You do have the year correct. It is a single cylinder 4.5 horse built by Eska for Sears and dressed as a Ted Williams model.

The powerhead itself was built by Tecumseh, so essentially it's the same motor that was used on hundreds of lawnmowers of the same vintage. While Eska is long out of business, parts for the powerhead can be obtained from almost any small engine place that deals with Tecumseh parts.

The Tecumseh model of that particular powerhead is TEC 642-15A which can be used by a dealer to look up all the parts.

As to how the Eska is put together and what you need to undo, I can't help you there. I've only ever seen a couple of them and never torn one down to work on, and have no manuals for them.

You may be able to get a manual from Sears (the motor isn't really that old) or alternately you could try www.discount-marine-parts.com - they carry copies of a number of vintage/discontinued manuals.

For greasing the bracket/pivot/tilt tube (anything that moves) I use a lithium grease (same as for wheel bearings on a boat trailer). It's somewhat resistant to water and works well. Generally the start of each season is sufficient if running in fresh water - 2 or 3 times a year in a salty environment.

You have the proceedure for the lower unit oil correct.

If this hasn't been started for a while I would either spray some fogging oil in the cylinder, right through the sparkplug hole, or even put in a teaspoon of 2 cycle oil and turn the flywheel by hand for a couple of rotations, just to lube the cylinder.

When you are ready to start it, I would simply prime it up (as if it had been run yesterday) and give it a go. You shouldn't need your homemade starting fluid (gas/oil) unless you have a fuel issue (clog in the carb etc).

The "ring" you note is most likely for a safety tether, there is one on my little Evinrude.

As to how this will push along a 19 foot canoe, you will get rooster tails

I have a 15 foot coleman (heavy at 85 pounds empty) and I either need a second person up front, or a load of rocks to keep the nose down when I run a little 2.5 horse on it - could almost pull a skier (seriously) - if I'm remembering my conversion properly a 4.5 horse would be eqivalent to about a 290 lb thurst electric motor - so you figure it from there...."

"Thanks. I managed to get the

"Thanks. I managed to get the leg off of the power head about 2 this morning. To my surprise, inside the cylinder(when looking through the exhaust port) looks like this little guy was just rebuilt a couple of weeks ago. Got it all back together, lubed the cylinder, and turned it over to check for spark, and there's no spark. I think it might be the points are corroded from sitting. If not, time to break out some redneck inginuity gained on snowmobiles, convert to an external coil and put a pickup coil in it's place to power the coil. Side effect, I'll have access to about 12volt unregulated power that I can regulate to a steady voltage to charge the trolling batts. Now to take apart the shroud and all in order to check up top. Hope that there's access ports on the flywheel so that I can check the points without pulling the flywheel. I'll keep you all posted.

P.S. I do most of my fun engine work after midnight, insomnia sucks."

"Little update now. Got an ext

"Little update now. Got an extremely bright blue spark from a spare resistor plug(old snowmible plug) after cleaning the oxidation off the points. Finall question on this one. What's the usuall starting procedure on these when they haven't been run in a while? Where do I set the idle adjustment knib, do I use full choke or partial, set the lever right over where it says start or to the left or right of it, you all know what I mean? Please remember that this is my first outboard. My dad wants to see it running because it was used when he was a kid and it has some really good memories for him. Please, no recommendations of using ether, it's an atrocity to 2-strokes(no oil for the bearings means dead bearings), a little bit of premix sprayed down the carb is my ether. Thanks for the help with this little guy. Can't wait till I get through the DMV redtape and start using it.
Only thing left to do will get done after I get it running. I'm going to add a tether kill switch as a safe gaurd. Don't want to fall out and then get to try to catch the canoe as it goes chugging up river."