6HP Evinrude Fisherman 1974

My neighbours husband recently passed, & I was given today the above motor. He was original owner, doesn’t look like it has 20 hours on it, you could eat out of the cowling.
I know for sure it has never ran in the 14 years I’ve been at this house.
The gas tank looks new, but hose & bulb are rock hard.
I put it in a bucket, hooked up to a different tank, & miracles never cease, it fired up. Seems to run fine, &
idles well.
I thought I had enough water in the tank, but it wouldn’t pee, & the head quickly got to hot to touch so I shut it down. Let it cool, started again, & fogged engine. I’ll change impeller next spring.
I did see two other issues.
When you twist the throttle, it seems to move the spark plug wires quite a bit. Are they supposed to be secured somewhere?
I took a picture of the wires with the throttle wide open, & at idle, I’m not sure I can post a short video here.
The other issue,(possibly related), is a small screw with a lock washer that was loose in the bilge.
You can see it about Center of 3rd photo.
I cannot see anywhere that seems to be missing a screw like this. I can see two that look the same, up under the timing plate. They seem, to hold clips in place.

Link to the throttle movement moving ignition wires. I’m not sure if everyone can see this...
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0PNMHBIWUvJe3_NthseRjBulw

It is normal for the wires to move quite a bit, there is only one strap on one of the head bolts. That screw likely came from underneath the stator plate which holds the bracket for the timing control arm. You probably didn't have enough water but it is a good idea to check the impeller anyway as it is likely the original. The original impeller is made with a higher quality rubber than what is available today.
Video wouldn't play for me....my phone signal is marginal here where we live in the middle of the woods.

What a beautiful motor for its age! There is nothing wrong with the completely normal wires. Video worked for me.

Thanks Tim & Gator. I didn’t see anywhere else they could be secured, the one strap Tim referenced is intact. It just seemed over time the wires might chafe.
Im going to try running it again, with deeper water.
My garage is filling up. The chap who passed was a carpenter, immigrated from England. His wife has no use for all his tools, & wants her garage emptied. I now have just about everything to go into the carpentry business, hitachi table & chop saws, compressor with air tools, generator, hammer drills, biscuit joiners, planers, sawzall, sanders, angle grinders & every hand tool or accessory a contractor would own, right down to work lights, & extension cords.
im giving most of it away, found an organization that helps less fortunate folks work with a contractor to build themselves a modest house.

Great deal, the old man would be happy. Beauty motor.....will live on for decades in the right hands.. I still run my 1965 Fisherman.....Dad bought new.

If you can find it get an EMP impeller they are as close to the old ones you can get.

Thanks, Mr. Scott....I didn't know that.

mea culpa.
Despite reading this forum, & seeing the gurus, (Racerone, Tim, Gator, Joe Reeves, apologies to those missed), continually remonstrate about these pumps not being self priming, I still managed to make a cock up of it.
Taking all your excellent advice, I filled the compost bin to the top, set it on a block & put this little gem back in the water. Water was now high enough to be nearly up to the exhaust port.
Fired up 1st or 2nd pull, smoked like hell from the fogging oil of yesterday. Eventually smoothednout & ran like a kitten.
I gave it a crack of throttle, then full idle , ...it quit.
Im thinking carb job...but then I looked at the throttle markings, & remembered what I read in the original owners manual,(it came with the motor),
TO STOP THE MOTOR TURN THROTTLE ALL THE WAY TO STOP.
There is no “stop” button, you just turn the throttle all the way to where “idle” would normally be.
sorry about photo orientation...I’m working off an iPad, they’re crap in many ways, it’s difficult to rotate a photo.,
Anyway, it pumps water, purrs like a kitten, & runs for 5 minutes after dissconncting the fuel line. These things must run for a week on a Cruis-A-Day.
Gator, you’re right is a beauty, I can’t believe this thing is a ‘74, the printing on the throttle twist is as good as day 1 & I know for a fact it has never been outside the garage in the last 14 years. It pumped water, & ran fine, I don’t see the need to do anything.
Heres a couple photos I took today.

That should be in a museum. If you decide to change the water pump impeller, be sure not to scratch anything.
Here's what ethanol does to that type of fuel hose.....don't use either, or.....but that's just my advice. This hose was brand new 2 years ago. Lining melted and plugged the coupling at motor.

I have an old legacy Seadoo with those grey lines, had to change them all. As you say, the interior rots.

I ran across a similar 6hp Evinrude about 12yr ago when looking for a kicker for my Lund. Not quite that pristine but very close. I couldn't bring myself to use it, so I donated the motor to The Freshwater Fishing Hall Of Fame here in Hayward to put on display in the motor museum.

We are only 100 miles NW of there. Would love to visit that place..Raquel used to sell dresses at the big Muskie festival....also been to loggers championship and rodeos there. Great town.

iCloud link to the video expired, trying to post the actual video

Yes got it. Reviewing your very first set of photos I now see the low water level.....3" below the water pump.

timguy said:

I. That screw likely came from underneath the stator plate which holds the bracket for the timing control arm. .

Click to expand...

Update-
Had this little motor out today, & decided to have a hard look at where that screw came from.
You nailed it. In the photo, I’ve removed the clip that holds the arm, in order to get a bit more work space.
Now, how to get it back in?
I ended up turning the motor upside down, make gravity my friend. Blue loctite on the threads, tweezers to get it into place, as I couldn’t find anyone with tiny hands.
My angle screwdrivers we’re still too long, so I made one by cutting & filing down an Allen key.
Put the motor a 14’ Tracker Jon boat. This little 6 horse surprised me. Last year, with an almost empty boat & solo, it would just barely get on plane. Today, with a buddy, it hopped up & went. No GPS, but I’m pretty sure we were doing better than 10mph.
The difference was trim. With the extra body in the middle seat, it jumps onto plane, (moving the extra person to the front seat, it struggles), that’s pretty good for only 6hp.

I had one of these gifted to me a few years back. It's a great little motor and yours is in fantastic shape. Happy motorin'

that's a great little engine. Man is it ever smooth. Don't do what I did trying to impress my nephew though (it was his motor!). I decided to pull the thermostat to make sure it was in decent shape and destroyed the gasket. Not a big deal except that we were 2hrs from town and he wanted to use his boat. Ended up fixing but it was a bit embarassing.