TOPIC: 1960 Evinrude Lightwin 3 HP fuel/oil ratio

I'm getting a lot of oil in the barrel I'm testing my 1960 Evinrude. I used a 25:1 ratio about 5.4 ozs of oil to 1 gallon of gas. That's what the info I've found on this motor calls for...but, the person I talked to is a professional re-builder of old boat motors with 25 years of experience, and he said to use 35:1.
Question is...is he right, and that's why so much oil in the barrel? Or is there another problem here?
I can't get it to run in high speed position unless I turn the high speed needle to almost closed, the it speeds way up and promptly quits. What's with that anyhow?

The oils now are a lot better than they were in 1960. In fact I think they even gave an option of useing straight 30 W. I think 35:1 should be safe, but you still will get more smoke than you do with a newer motor.
Bill

I would stay with the mfr's original recommendations, reason why is that the earlier small engines such as your 3hp do not have "fully jeweled" rotating internals, i.e. there are no roller, needle, or ball bearings. The crankshaft rides on bronze-type bearings and the aluminum conn rods have some sort of plated surface where they ride on the crankshaft.

So the thicker oil mix is a cushion for these surfaces. Modern oil might be better, but don't go any thinner with the mix with this type of powerhead.

One good thing about using modern oils, even at a higher mix ratio it shouldn't smoke as bad, and the innards will run cleaner.

I thank everyone for your input. However, I now have 3 different opinions and no consensus yet. It would seem that I'd better stick to the 25:1 recommended by the Evindrude documentation...though there sure is a lot of oil floating in the test barrel for such short tests. If I did test it at 35:1, would I be damaging the engine in such a short time?

I doubt a short jaunt in the barrel on 35:1 would cause any issues. Nor would just idling down the lake. But I wouldn't run it at a high clip in the lake without the proper fuel/oil mix. BTW here's a diagram of your engine's innards, as you'll see there's not a needle, roller, or ball bearing in sight. Even the small-end of the conn rod has just a bronze bushing where it rides on the wrist pin.

www.marineengine.com/parts/johnson-evinrude-parts.php?year=1960&hp=3&model=3034&manufacturer=Evinrude§ion=LIGHTWIN+POWER+HEAD-CRANKCASE-CRANKSHAFT