Elgin

	1956 Elgin 5 1/2 hp	1958 Elgin 2hp
1946 Elgin 1 1/4 hp

Of all the outboard pages represented at the Oddjob Motors website, this one is second only to the Johnson Collection in the number of hits we receive! (There must be a lot of old Elgin's out there)

The Elgin outboard brand was retailed through Sears & Roebuck from 1946 through the early 1960's. The earlier Waterwitch and subsequent Ted Williams and Gamefisher brands Sears offered never had the market share or impact of the Elgin name. Two companies provided outboards to Sears bearing the Elgin name; the lion's share came from West Bend who had purchased the old Kissel Car plant (the same folk's who had made the pre-war Waterwich motors after their automobile business dried up in the depression). In 1959 Sears started transitioning the Elgin name to outboards made by Scott-McCulloch. The little 2hp West Bend made motors remained on sale the longest being offered through 1961.

When new, Elgin's were a budget offering retailing for about 20%-25% less than one of the major brands of the same horsepower. The apple green Elgin's of '46-'57 are one of the most common old outboards around and are mostly ignored by serious outboard enthusiasts. In truth, they are not bad little motors and can almost always be made to run.

Parts for Elgin outboards can be difficult to find today. For the West Bend made Elgin's there is some crossover with Chrysler and later Force outboards since they are from the same lineage. Additionally, the McCulloch made Elgin's share parts with Scott and other "badge engineered" outboards like Firestone. Often the best bet if you need a part for an old Elgin is simply to acquire a parts engine. Consumables like water pump impellers and ignition coils are common failure items and tough to find. (see Tech Tip #1 for help on Elgin's equipped with certain Wico magnetos)

For further information and study, there is a great website devoted to Elgin's, visit it at the following link: Elgin Outboards

1956 Elgin (Sears) 571.59501 5 1/2 hp
With original Reservoir 4 gal tank! Front control panel, the black handle on the left is the gearshift, right is the pull start. Cover open to adjust the carb settings Plastic bendix gear is very fragile A Word of Caution; If you have one of these motors and want to use it, the bendix spool on the pull-start is a very fragile plastic - even more so since it is 50+ years old. I had a 12hp of these and that was its Achilles Heal. I am very gentle in using the pull-start mechanism and I'm sure to engage the gear before tugging on the rope. I would recommend using the flywheel rope plate if more than 1 or 2 pulls are required.	Year & Model: 1956 Elgin 571.59501 Horsepower: 5 1/2 @ 4000 rpm Cylinders: 2 Bore: 2" Stroke: 1.6875" Ignition: Wico Point Gap:.020 Cooling: Water by Impeller Condition: Unrestored Retail price when new: $184.95 Weight: 52 lbs. Oil/Gas Mix: 1/2pt TCW-3 Spark Plug: Champion H-10C Comments: This little Elgin was purchased for a whopping $15 because I felt bad for it and didn't want to see it go to the scrap yard. Someone had replaced on of the sparkplugs with an extra-long reach plug causing it to appear to be seized. (It pays to be able to recognize the AC plugs out of a Chevy 350!) The original Wico magneto coils were replaced per Tech Tip #1 and I also cleaned the carburetor and rebuilt the fuel pump. A few small parts were needed like the pull start handle and air-box spacer. These were obtained through the AOMCI Webvertize. I was stunned at how well this motor runs! It is quiet, smooth and very powerful for a 5 1/2hp motor. It also only used 2 1/2 gallons of fuel for 5 hours of running. It has become a real favorite of mine and one I plan to use a lot. And I have come to really enjoy the styling of these motors - 1950's outboards, like cars, all pretty much looked the same. A metal cowl covered the machinery and the basic shape was very functional. The fiberglass hooded Elgins and West Bend outboards were very revolutionary in their styling and looked unlike any other outboard then being made. I would compare it to the '57 Chryslers that totally broke with tradition to come out with cars that were styled years ahead. In the case of the Elgin seen here, it is very similar in shape to the 1962 Johnson's. Love it or hate it, you can't deny that the Elgins from this era have a unique look!
	Engine detail - that cable throttle advance and pulleys can be problematic 1 2 3 4 Hood latch is an odd design but works well once you get used to it. Dots to the left & right of the latch are spare shear pin holders Serial number plate is located on the tiller Fuel barb is an odd size and different than the later Chrysler design

Coming soon - 1958 Elgin 35hp!!

It All Started With This Elgin....

The old outboard bug first nipped me at an early age. When I was 9 my dad and I found a 1958 2 hp Elgin that had been squirreled away at my Grandparents since the late 1950's. My grandfather, (a diehard Sears man), bought the outboard in the late 50's when he no longer felt comfortable rowing his 14' skiff the 2 miles down the Connecticut River from his house to the boatyard where he kept his sailboat. Not long after buying the Elgin he discovered that with the wind and/or tide against him it did not produce enough power to make any headway (and things only got worse when he had another person, groceries, etc... in the boat!) Anyway, his solution was to buy a used '53 7.5 hp Evinrude that I also ended up inheriting later, but that is another story….

We found the Elgin tucked in the corner of the basement while putting storm windows away the spring after my grandfather died. In lieu of the $2.00 I was to get for working all day on the G.D. storm windows and screens (the old wooden hanging ones), I begged my grandmother for the motor. She agreed right away but it took some persuasion to convince my dad. (He only liked sailboats and saw outboards as noisy, evil and smelly).

When we got it home I commenced to try and clean the 1950's gas out of the tank and carb. Since it was my first engine I was totally clueless and have subsequently come to know and hate the smell of varnished gas. (At age 9 I thought it smelled great, like maple syrup being made!) The Eisenhower era fuel had dried out to the point of being sandy grains and had totally clogged the jet and float chamber. It was only with the kind help of our corner garage's mechanic that I was able to get it working - he spent about 45 minutes helping me and never charged me a dime. He even took the time to explain how the carb and magneto worked and also explained that most outboards were water-cooled but the Elgin had the addition of air cooling "like lawnmowers."

His parting words to me were "always have a good set of oars when using that motor", (he was an OMC man). I must have used "that motor" for most of the summer before the local marine patrol brought it to my attention that my 10' boat needed to be registered and the operator needed to be 15! (It didn't stop me, I was just very careful for the next few years!) Anyway, by the end of the summer I wanted another, (bigger), outboard I had found so I sold the boat and Elgin for $35 to a kid "up the street".

That 1958 2 hp Elgin had the distinction of not excelling at anything; it wasn't rare, smooth, quiet or unique but it will always be very special for me.

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