Re: 1954 Evinrude Fasttwin 15hp

Posted by Ken Hall (152.163.252.1) on January 14, 2004 at 05:10:10:

In Reply to: 1954 Evinrude Fasttwin 15hp posted by Walter Hardy on January 05, 2004 at 13:54:37:

Generally the coil insulation on the 50s stuff cracks.If your coils are not cracked,you are lucky.They are the most expensive component in the magneto.My hobby is vintage outboards and I have done hundreds of these mags.The beauty of OMC is that they used the same ignition parts from 1954 through 1976 and from 3 hp through 40 so there are a ton of them available.I generally remove the mag,test it on a Merc-o-tronic tester and rebuild it.These mags need to be done right 1 time.Right generally means new plug wire,condensers,points.The coils should fire on test at 1.5 or less to be usable.Condenser at .18 to.22 Everthing you need for this job is available at Napa.Make sure you reinstall the rubber boots that cover the plug wire where it goes into the coil and make sure that you push the wire in against the coil cotact.As another responder said,coil position is critical.I use a special toolwhich is a machined ring which fits over the mag plate and sets the coil heels at the correct diameter .You can do it by eye however.Please e-mail me if you need further assistence.