Vintage 1950's .049 Sea Fury Outboard Motor

[Paul Cooper]

A couple of weeks ago I was helping one of our older employees with something in our shop at work and we got to talking about hobbies and it turned to talking about RC boats. He then mentioned he might have something I might like. He's part time and is 81 years old. I didn't think much of it at the time. Now to the present he came over to my cubicle after lunch and goes I'm kind of embarrassed to give this to you . It's a bit ruff . And I looked at him quizzically knowing he was talking about the boat motor we had talked about before. So I said don't worry about it and he hands me a outboard motor. It has got to be one of the coolest things I've ever seen. It's from the 1950's. Sadly It's locked up . But I figure soak it in WD40 and then gas to see if I can free it up. . I don't think it will ever run again but who knows. I figure I can clean it up and polish it up and make a display for it and put it with my RC Boats.



Also found this video on you tube .

 

[john v]

definitly cool

 

[Sonny Cook]

Way Cool being a Retired outboard, shop owner, mechanic, i Love the old nitro outboards

 

[Scott Tonak]

Very cool! I have the same one that my Dad gave to me before he passed. It was the first model boat engine he ever bought when he was a young boy. Does anyone know if there are glow plugs available that will work with this engine? I was thinking about cleaning it up and attaching it to the back of a SK Daddle Jr. that was my first r/c boat my Dad built with me when I was about 6 years old. I'm now 54 years young and still have it! It was set up with an inboard .049 but I think it would be a cool combo as a tribute to my Dad. Just to see it run as a 1 channel for steering would be a hoot!

 

[LohringMiller]

My first model boat was powered by one of these engines. it was free running and ran off into the sunset on the lake; never to be seen again.

Lohring Miller

 

[Scott Tonak]

Ok now I'm inspired. This outboard hasn't been run in 60+ years. Soaking it in atf for a couple days then I'll break it down further and soak it some more. The 48 year old sk daddle jr needs some work but this will be a fun project!

 

[Scott Tonak]

Dang them things were EXPENSIVE back in the day!

 

[LohringMiller]

I remember McCoy engines selling for around $5 in the early 1960s. I bought a new car for about $1300. VWs were too expensive for me at $1700. I got my Sea Fury in the mid 1950s.

Lohring Miller

 

[Wasted wages]

I remember turning in soda bottles to buy glow plug heads, dry cells, and parts and cox fuel to keep my .049 cox engine running..

Much simpler days.....

 

[Mark Grannis]

I have one of these OB's...interesting to stumble across it every once in a while. I remember it being a loud little bastard when started in the basement back in INDY.

 

[Terry Keeley]

Dang them things were EXPENSIVE back in the day!

I delivered morning papers before school when I was ten or so for $4 a week, I remember the Cox .049 I wanted was two weeks pay.

 

[dwilfong]

I remember at age 9 holding a .049 in my hand to show the kid next store how it ran.
Grand pop collected stamps and had all the Scotts stamp books and thy where full.
Then he had blocks and full plates tones of them.
There was a mail order place out of NYC and thy took stamps for payment...........

 

[El Zorro]

I delivered morning papers before school when I was ten or so for $4 a week, I remember the Cox .049 I wanted was two weeks pay.

When the Cox .049's first came out they were $3.95 in what they called the "blister pack". When the Cox Tee Dee .049's first came out they were $7.95 in the plastic cover box. When I was 12 years old I delivered the afternoon newspaper in my neighborhood and in the summertime ( during the day ) I would go to customer's houses to collect the weekly .30 cents from them just to get enough money to go buy a pint of Cox "blue can" fuel to go fly my Cox Golden Bee .049 powered combat wing controline airplane. Won my first contest with that airplane, too.
About that same time my Dad had one of those Sea Fury outboards on a 24 in long hydroplane that he would fill it maybe half full of fuel, cock the engine for a slight left turn and start this thing with his thumb and a finger. It would do a big circle in the pond. If you were lucky it would run out of fuel close to the shore. If not............
Dick Tyndall