Old Chrysler 55hp outboards

They need a little love…

Oct 10 2011   This is an ongoing and current project… watch for updates

Today it was raining hard .. so being the non-coastal person that I am.. I hid in my shop.  I built a stand out of wood to hold the running 1975 Chrysler outboard.. the older 1972 one is on a stand I bought at Princess Auto. The 1975 motor will be the one I use on my Seven Seas Cruiser.  The other will be my spare.  No Dave I’m not doing the twin thing on the boat.. One should do the trick and be less complicated.  If you checked out my blog on the Seven Seas you will see a link to a video of a bigger boat running great on a 75 hp Chrysler.. So I’m inclined to think my 55 will do just fine.  I’m not out to break speed records.  As per usual I’m ordering the shop manual for these motors so I’m not guessing how to tune them up.. Why these old motors ?  Well I got one for free.. and the other was very cheap.  They aren’t as old as the boat , but they are still nostalgic.  And they are very simple to work on.

4 Cowls….

That’s because I’ve got two more parts motors !  Ok ones a 45 hp cowl.. but they are all the same size.   I have two 1975 and two older ones.

This is where Rob has fun…

Painting stuff…pimping stuff… This is where I shine.  I’m going to choose two of the cowls that are in the best condition and repaint them .  One I will keep the white & gold scheme ,  the other I will custom paint .. white & light blue to match the boat… Just watch me go…

I’m not sure what to call them but they are a pain in the butt..  Those little circle clips.. they are easy to install but hard to get off.  But after I take off all the trim I’ve got a naked cowl..

This will be the one that gets the hammered gold paint job..

Holy Cowl !

Thanks to the great way they put things together I can mix & match the badges with the trim to get the best.  I’m going to chose the chrome “Chrysler” letters to go with the custom lt blue paint.  And I’ll redo the “55” in blue .  I’ll keep the red numbers for the restored gold trim cowl.

I changed my mind … I tried different combinations , and the chrome badges look better with the gold.   This is the newer cowl ,and it has a new hammered gold finish.

Here’s the blue cowl.  That color is a perfect match to the top of the boat.  I painted the badges all black because they were quite scratched. Now I’m trying to decide on blue letters or white.

White letters it is..  So this is my custom cowl, with the blue that matches the boat.

And here’s the (original ) looking cowl.   As soon as my service manual arrives I can get to work on the motors.. they will get a fresh white paint jot too..

May 2012 :

Reality bites …  and the motors got wheeled over to the corner last fall for other projects.  But soon I’ll be wheeling them back out.. there is a new bigger Chrysler 70 that came on the Glasspar that will get the run first..  and then these will get their chance at fame..  Stay tuned !

 Bring out the BIG guns first…

Once this 70 hp has been run a bit (on the lake too)  then it will be a dolly queen till the Performer is ready for power..  Looks like I have another cowl to paint.