Kyle,
In your case, you have to combine paint combos, and decals, to get the whole story.
Your first picture shown is a 1954 cowl. In ’54, they had the silver trim, with wing nuts. Looking at starboard side of cowl, in the bottom left corner, they had the Sea Horse picture on top, with the "Sea Horse" script BENEATH the picture, and then the 5 1/2 number beneath that. ON the front of the cowl, beneath the rope start, the ’54 either has a Sea Horse picture, with "Sea Horse" script, OR they have starting instructions. Im not sure on difference there sorry but have seen both.
Your second picture shown is a 1955 cowl. In ’55, they had the white trim. In the bottom, left corner of the cowl you can see the "5 1/2 number with "Sea Horse" script underneath it, NOT on TOP of it. That also gives it away, as does the fact that there is NO Sea Horse picture, just the script and number. On the front of the ’55 cowl, beneath the rope start, they have the picture of the Sea Horse, with the number 5 1/2 overlayed on it. NO SCRIPT on the ’55 front.
Hope this sort of helps. I can email you some pictures from original brochures if you want.
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