1975 Johnson 6hp fresh out of storage

[gnarbrah]

Hello from a new guy. I'm extremely impressed with all the knowledge I've seen on here, you guys know your stuff. On to business, I acquired a 6R75R (Pretty sure thats a 75) from a friend for $40. Even if the thing was trash I think I did okay moneywise. I've had it for about 10 years and used it probably 20 or so hours (8-10 years ago) when I lived on the lake. Unfortunately I moved but now I'm back to the lake and remembered my little sea horse and took it out of storage. It still looks factory new (the original owner, a friend of my fathers father, used it a s a kicker) but I know (especially after reading all these posts) that its probably due for some maintenance. I've already removed the impeller which is holding its bent position well so thats getting replaced, and I'm wondering what else I should go ahead and replace while I've got it apart. For kicks I stuck it in a cooler, got a fresh tank of gas/oil (50:1) and pulled it twice and it fired right up. It didn't start spitting water so I shut it down quickly and it felt pretty hot. Hence my impeller removal/replacement. I plan on squirting water/air up the water tube in exhaust housing to make sure all is clear. Then I was thinking about the T-Stat. Is that something I should replace while I'm at it or do they tend to stay good?
I know I'm jumping around alot here (sorry) but when I was removing the lower unit to get at the impeller, on some bad advice, I took the power head off to disconnect the shifter. I now know that wasn't necessary but now I'm wondering if I need to pull it off again to replace the exhaust gasket? It looked good when I had it up and I was nice to it when seating the p-head back on.

To recap:
- Replacing the impeller - Where / when should I expect to see water coming out? No tell-tale on this model.
- T-Stat yes or no? Can I test it somehow?
- Exhaust gasket - Need new or give it a try with the old one?
- What else should I check/replace before I head off into the blue?

Thanks!

 

[cr9c1]

Re: 1975 Johnson 6hp fresh out of storage

I assume you meant the power head gasket where it seals to the midsection/lower unit. I'd replace it.

I'd also replace the thermostat. And test it before you install it to make sure it opens and closes like it should.

Probably wouldn't be a bad idea for a decarb. After the decarb, a new set of spark plugs. Most definitely do the water pump rebuild kit, it'll save you more money than you can imagine in the end.

If its sat for a long time I'd also recommend getting a carb rebuild kit and totally redoing the carb. You can't go wrong doing this.