The boat

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 This is the 1956 Herter's Flying Fish that I picked up last week.  This picture shows the controls that were on it.  I think that the Evinrude controls were original to the boat.  It's a two stick setup with one cable being 11'10'' and the other being 9'10"  
Here's how it looks now after cleaning up and slapping on some new paint.

It's Alive!  I decided to use the motor that came with the boat.  I made several successful runs around the lake today (8.24.07).  When I first put in, it started, but ran like crap. 

 
I tied off and walked across the street to the boat repair shop, collared a mechanic, and took him to the boat.  I started it and we pushed off, he adjusted while I drove.  It started to sound better, then better still, but I still didn't have high speed.  I suggested that he adjust the thumbscrew on the throttle cable, he wasn't getting out of the boat until it ran well, the throttle lever became a bit more taut, POP, high speed. I dropped the mechanic (Don) off and made half a dozen runs around the lake, the more it ran, the better it sounded. 

Tomorrow we'll try it out at Portage Lakes.  We tried, we failed. 

The boat started and ran but Portage Lakes is mostly a "No Wake Zone".  When we tried to run at low speed, the forward gear wouldn't fully engage. As we approached the launch area, the motor died and I couldn't get it re-started.

  
 

 

 

The Flying Fish Video

 

 

 Since then, I hooked up with Big Steve.

We went to a swap meet put on by the Antique Outboard Motor club and met this guy who specialized in working on old gas tanks and mid-century Johnson and Evinrude motors.  A couple of days later I took the Fish up to Sagamore Hills (20 Mi. away) and Big Steve's house.  Don, the earlier mechanic, told me a number of things that needed to be fixed or replaced and that he'd be glad to do it for $600.

Steve charged me half as much to make new gaskets and diaphragm for the tank, re-build the carburetor, and get it running much better.  After a local test, Dale and I took the boats out to West Branch State Park and ran for about an hour.  The popping out of gear problem persisted but was less of an issue because I could run at higher speeds and it would pop out and in to gear occasionally. Just as we decided to haul the boats out, the Fish died and I couldn't get it restarted.  Dale pulled me to shore with his boat.

I contacted Steve and hauled the boat back up to Sagamore Hills.  It seems that when he replaced baskets on the gas tank, he didn't make a new seal for the gas cap and it leaked.  He made a new gasket for the gas cap, replaced the "clutch dog" (a little gear looking thing at the top of the driveshaft), and a number of seals.  The motor started with a single pull of the rope.  I've replaced the starter and starter solenoid but haven't connected them yet.

The Fish seems to be running fine now.  We took the boats out to Portage Lakes last Sunday and putted around for a couple of hours.  We even stopped at a couple of the lakeside bars and had a cold one.  The Fish started right up and ran without jumping out of gear.  Dale took a short video with his still camera.  The link to the video is on the left.

  

The Motor

Vintage 1955 (more likely 1956) Evinrude, Big Twin  25 Hp Aquasonic, Electric & Pull start, Tiller arm, original two stick controls, head's been replaced, good compression.  I believe that this engine was original to the Flying Fish.  It was stored inside, off of the boat, and appears to be in spectacular shape.    
Update

Decided to get it fixed.  After a couple of adjustments and then a tune-up, it runs quite well (for the moment).  It turns out that the transmission on this motor is not only not original, its not even for this motor.  The mechanic said that it likely came from a motor that's ten years newer, but it fits and works.  I repainted the cowl, but I'll strip it and do a good job on it over the winter.

10.16.07

I decided to go ahead and re-paint the motor.  I left the inside of the cowl in original condition, just in case I decide to go back to the original blue color.  It now appears that the motor is a 1955, the electric start is a 1956 and both are most certainly original to the boat.

    

 

Last Update

I sold the boat in '08 to a lovely couple from Upstate New York, you might see it tooling around the finger lakes.