Logo

1976 Evinrude 55hp need to change from jet drive to prop drive

ToddL

New member
I recently completed a rebuild of a 1976 Evinrude 55hp along with the Alumacraft VBow 1650 AW Tunnel center console it's mounted to. The motor has a fairly new jet propulsion drive on the lower unit. I thought I was in business for shallow running in the flats of south Texas being that this was a tunnel hull boat with the added bonus of having a jet drive. I was wrong :( The power that I lost due to the jet drive was more than I ever expected, the boat barely jets up on plane. Now I just want to jet rid of the jet drive and put a standard prop drive back on so I can get my power back. What I don't understand yet is what is the most cost efficient way of doing this? I have the old lower unit but the all the controls are now hacked since the jet drive doesn't really have a transmission. Should I just buy another lower unit with associated controls and replace it all? I have the old lower unit. Maybe I should just rebuild it and buy the controls. In either case, how do I know what lower unit or controls are compatible with my motor and where is a good source for used ones?

Thanks to anyone who can help me out of this mess.
-ToddL
 
Back
Top