Parts for old "oddball " Outboards?

[bulletbob]

I see a LOT of old Scott/Wizard/MCullough/Chrysler/Sears-Ted Williams/Elgin/ OB's non running around here for real cheap, but wonder about parts availability.. Sears sold millions of small OB's, but I see a lot of guys crying that they can't find even simple standard parts like a coil or impeller for them... I have made it a point of always passing on these engines when I see them at garage sales in a non running state, because I fear they would be worthless, while I would and have always bought OMC OB's when I can find them cheap... Are these engines worth fixing up if they look pretty good?, or is it really that tough to find parts, and if parts are found, they are priced way more than the engine is worth??... I see a lot of them that look pretty good, mainly because its all fresh water here, and mostly clean water[Finger LakesNY], and our boating season is quite short... Not looking to gather them up to sell parts/make money, just wondering if the effort is worth the cost of parts these days.... bob