First link: A “nice looking” 1967 Lightwin, appears to be fresh water used. But, the owner mentions something about gas left in the tank, so you would want to have a close look at that…$275 is pretty expensive for and engine that needs a fuel tank….Couldn’t really see the gearcase, so make sure it is not broken…
Second link: Another 1967 Lightwin, appears to be fresh water used also. The tank is banged up, but not too bad. $100 is reasonable if the inside of the tank is clean…Gearcase looks to be in good shape physically.
Third post: This is a 1963 LIghtwin, owner says tank is clean and dry. Gearcase looks in good shape physically. This engine has transom brackets with two clamp screws and and adjustable high speed needle…Most of us prefer this set up over the newer single screw and fixed high speed jet on the newer models…
Fourth post: This is a 1960 Lightwin with the two clamp transom bracket and adjustable high speed needle…Way over priced at $225 though. I would ask the owner what he means by “the lower unit was done a few years ago”….Water pump, or reseal job. Odd that the lower unit appears dusty/oily, kind of like it was leaking, but who knows…You would want to check inside the tank also…

Like I said, it would be great if the owners would let you do a compression test and check the gear lube. Don’t forget to look the engines over carefully for cracked/bent castings, especially the gearcase areas I mentioned….Make sure the tank is clean inside.
So, it seems like the third listing might be worth looking into. The second listing is nice also and reasonably priced. The first and last listings are way over priced, not worth looking into unless the owners are willing to negotiate quite a bit…

Mumbles wrote:

The three horse motors have sleeve style bearings on the crank and they must use a heavier oil mixture in the gas than other motors with ball or needle bearings on the crank. 16:1 is preferred but they will survive on 24:1 if they are babied.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Mumbles.

Agree 200 percent… The beauty of these older engines is that when in good shape and tuned correctly, they barely smoke at all, even at 16:1.

The main problem is the riveted on counterweight that makes them idle so smoothly necessitates trimming the connecting rod for cleacence. This causes the top rod to starve for lubrication. they won’t last on anything less han 24 to one mixture. Especially when they stoped casting in the brass bearing and switched to silver plating.