I just picked up a running 1953 WG4 Wizard. I kicked it over and it ran for a few seconds. I assume it needs carb and fuel line work. The spring starter doesn't work and we used an electric drill with socket to turn it. Any suggestions as to where to find parts, tips for getting it going and any tricks of the trade about the spring starter, and carbuerator?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Stuart

Your motor shares lots of parts with the Mercury KD4. The cowling is the big difference.
Try ebay search for Mercury KD4
or go to East Coast Marine here.

Wizard Parts manual for WF4 and wG4 here.

To get modern parts numbers substitute the first letter M in place of W and look the part up on this Cross reference chart. The new number will be to the right of the old number. Many parts will still be obsolete but you may have a better chance of finding it.

The equivalent to the recoil spring is part # 24-29340T02 $18.59 here.

Wizard Literature

Thanks Bryan, appreciate the info. Any other tips, please email.
Stuart Garber

Glad to help Stuart. The link to the "Wizard literature" in the previous post has a general instructions and parts list for a WD4S motor. It might be slow to load...Sorry.
The instructions in it will work for your motor also since they are pretty much the same motor +/- a few parts changes. use good modern TW3 two cycle outboard oil with the gas. I run 32:1 in everything I own and have never had any problems. Always check the water pump impeller and the gear case uses Lubriplate 105 engine assembly grease available at Napa. The lower unit is the weak link in the early Mercs and Wizards. Treat them right as there are no replacement parts available except seals and impellers.

Bryan, Thanks again for your passing along important info.
Stuart Garber

Be careful if you have never rebuilt a recoil before, the spring may come flying out when you disassemble it and can cause injury. Wear gloves and eye protection. The spring is likely gunked up with old grease, and you can spray it down with carb cleaner or a heavy degreaser to remove it. When reassembling, just apply a light layer of lithium grease directly to the spring (not too much). I use Lubriplate #105, which is the same lubricant you should use in the lower unit (do not use conventional lower unit 80W-90 oil).

For the carburetor, if the float is original, it will be cork. You can purchase a new plastic float for it which stands up to ethanol in today's gas in many places, but if you don't you'll need to reseal the cork. Ethanol will eat away at the original shellac coating, and then the cork will absorb gas and not float. To reseal it, you can use either super glue (which is fuel proof) or clear model airplane dope. Just make sure the cork is completely dry before resealing. If it is soaked with gas and you seal it, it will be too heavy to float. For the rest of the carb, spray out all of the passages with carb cleaner. Reset both needle valves (high speed and idle) one turn out (counterclockwise) from seated, which are the initial settings. You'll have to fully dial them in while the motor is on a boat under load.

BEFORE YOU START ON THE CARBURETOR, you'll want to check cylinder compression and spark. If compression is low or uneven on the cylinders, you may not have a good runner and it could require an expensive rebuild. Also, the ignition may be shot, as the coils tend to crack with age and loose their spark. At minimum, if you remove the flywheel and the coils look fine, you will probably want to at least clean up the breaker points (get them shiny using 800 grit sandpaper)and re-gap them. If compression and spark are good, then move onto the rest of the motor. If not, figure out how much you are going to need to invest to make it run, and decide if it is worth it to you. Whatever you do ... have fun!

Just my $0.02.

JP

Thank you for your important tips. I will check ou the compression before I proceed any further. Also thanks for the ignition tips.Any other thoughts please forward.
Thanks, Stuart Garber

Take a good look at your old outboard. Does it look like someone cared about it OR does it look like it has been thru the wars? Once your outboard motor was
in factory fresh condition. How it looks now is a
pretty good indication of how it was used and stored.

What I look for:
1)was fuel left in tank?
2)does it pull over smoothly?
3)is propeller beat up or corroded?
4)missing,damaged or incorrect items (including fasteners)
I try to avoid paying a "good" motor price for a parts only motor.You have to see things as they are NOT as you hope they are to get a true picture. For every old outboard that "starts and runs like new" several others may need complete rebuilding...most tend to be somewhere in between...a little work and
a few parts needed.

If you are doing your first old outboard pick a prospect that is within your budget of time, money
and talent. All the good advice you can get here
will not make up for shortcomings of the motor from
____ (sounds like swell)
Louis