85 Johnson 115 Lower Motor cover/pan interchangability and replacement

[crb478]

Can anyone advise me if the Lower motor covers are interchangable between the 73-77 motor style and the 79- 95 motor style? I picked up a newly rebuilt 1985 Johnson 115 that took a fall from a display stand and cracked the lower motor cover. The Upper cowl will still fit on it and latch, but not correctly. I have 2 lower motor covers from 73 - 77 motors(a 73 and a 75 I believe). Will these fit the 85 motor? I looked at the parts diagrams for several years and they have different parts numbers for each year I looked at. These are all crossflows. I can not tell to look at them if there are any differences from the diagrams.

Secondly, what do you need to remove to replace the lower motor cover? I have a manual, but it advises to pretty much strip the powerhead including the carbs and intake. This seems like overkill to me just to lift the powerhead up a few inches to clear the lower cover and then swap them out. Does anyone have any tips on replacing the pan? I have swapped complete powerheads on different lowers units in the past with out stripping parts off, but I would rather ask for advise before I end up working harder on this than I need too. Thanks in advance for any help, hopefully this will be my winter project.

 

[crb478]

Re: 85 Johnson 115 Lower Motor cover/pan interchangability and replacement

bump

 

[toddschubert]

Re: 85 Johnson 115 Lower Motor cover/pan interchangability and replacement

I would think your looking at pulling power head off. Can you repair lower cover eg jb we'll or something?

 

[crb478]

Re: 85 Johnson 115 Lower Motor cover/pan interchangability and replacement

Sorry if this ends up as a double post, but the first one didn't go through initially:

I plan to pull the powerhead, just don't think I need to strip it as the manual suggest. My real question is will the lower pans I have from 73-77 motors fit my 85 motor. I know that the upper cowls fit between all of them. I also thought about using JB weld, but the lower pan is now kind of egg shaped and while the cowl does fit it does not fit well, and I would just like it right.

I would like to have all the needed parts on hand raise the powerhead until it clears, replace the lower pan, and then put it all back together. I really don't want to get it raised and then find out that the pans will not switch between models and have to find a different pan in mid repair.

Does anyone know if a 73 or 75 pan will fit on a 85 motor? Thanks

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 85 Johnson 115 Lower Motor cover/pan interchangability and replacement

Have you measured the spacing of the 4 mounting holes on both lower cowls to see if they will bolt up? Does the 85 upper cowl fit perfectly on your replacement lower cowling?

 

[crb478]

Re: 85 Johnson 115 Lower Motor cover/pan interchangability and replacement

I have not measured the bolts yet, but the upper cowl does fit perfectly, all three uppers can be interchanged and fit perfectly.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 85 Johnson 115 Lower Motor cover/pan interchangability and replacement

In 1979 the powerhead castings changed. The difference was in the type of bracket that supported the lower cowl. The1978/prior engine blocks were drilled and tapped to accept a bracket which supported the lower cowling. These brackets had their own part numbers. The 1979 and later powerheads had the brackets cast into them. I am not sure if the change to the mounting type/method made any difference to the dimensions of the lower cowling mounting holes.

 

[crb478]

Re: 85 Johnson 115 Lower Motor cover/pan interchangability and replacement

Thanks!