1959 Johnson V4S-11 50HP Super Sea-horse

I just acquired a (1959) Johnson V4S-11 50HP Super Sea-horse ("Fat Fifty"). I'm hoping to get it up and running again. It does not appear to be in terrible shape, but it has been out in the elements for a while. I haven't built a frame to mount it on yet, but that should be done this week. Has anyone worked on these? I just ordered a Seloc manual for it, and I'll probably order the original service manual once I start digging into it. <br /><br />Also, any ideas on where I can find parts for this motor? I haven't had much luck digging up info about this motor. Is it worth the effort of finding parts and rebuilding it, or should I just buy another one? It is original to the hull I am restoring, so I really want to keep it, but not if it will take me 2 years to get it operational.

Re: 1959 Johnson V4S-11 50HP Super Sea-horse

Check the compression first. If it isn't good, pull the head and hope it's just a blown head gasket. Worse and it isn't worth going any further. Another deal breaker would be the mating surfaces where the shift dog engages the forward gear. If they round-off, then it won't stay in forward. I'd be astonished if those were still available. The only years they used that particular gearcase was 1958-59, at least on the consumer models. Commercial V-4s of the 60s used them sometimes, but I'd have a hard time believing any commercial motor of the 60s would be around anymore. Props are difficult to find but not impossible. I believe the pin-drive V-4 props all work, but only the 50Hp props had the look.<br /><br />In good running condition, they're strong as an ox. Heavy as one too. Real gas hogs. But boy do they have torque!

Re: 1959 Johnson V4S-11 50HP Super Sea-horse

Gextyr, I had two of those motors. Very reliable due to the low tech and robust design. If they have decent compression (75PSI+), they should run well. Their ignition system was super, the carbs were only OK and the gearcase (as Willy said) was the weak point. The forward and reverse gears were interchangeable, and the shift dog can be turned around. If you have an issue with the shifting, inspect the mating surfaces of the gears and dog and pick the best gear and dog combination for forward. On both my motors the shift linkage had so much slop, I never could have forward and reverse, so I chose forward.<br /><br />One more thing, these motors had dual points and a single condenser. You need to assure both sets of points open at the same time relative to each other. There are two timing marks on the distributor body, 90degrees apart. The second one on my motors was hard to see for some reason. When all four cylinders are running at fast idle, the motor "roars". When only two cylinders are running, it sounds a bit nasally.

Re: 1959 Johnson V4S-11 50HP Super Sea-horse

thanks a bunch for the info! I think if I can't get forward and reverse, and I can't find someone who has either good replacement parts, or (more likely) another motor I could use for parts, I'll probably just buy a different motor. I wanna keep my boat as vintage as possible, but if the motor doesn't work right, there's not much point.

Re: 1959 Johnson V4S-11 50HP Super Sea-horse

Also something I found on mine (58) was the bearings in the magneto were dry and caused it to jitter and not run smooth. Pulled it open and lubed the bearings and all was fine. My bet is those bearings have not been lubed in yours since 1959! You can also e-mail me at r54w04@yahoo.com I know where some parts are.

Re: 1959 Johnson V4S-11 50HP Super Sea-horse

A word of warning here! If that engine is not mounted on a boat, or stand, and the stern brackets are in the down position, you have a set bear trap there. If you were to pull the tilt release lever, that bracket will fly up with hellish force. That thing can hurt you bad. There is a spring that is squuare in cross section. It is wound from 1/4, or 5/16" square stock to give you an idea how strong it is. It is mounted in that stern bracket to act as a counter weight when tilting the engine up.

Re: 1959 Johnson V4S-11 50HP Super Sea-horse

Yeah, I noticed the spring. When I picked up the motor, it was not mounted on the boat, and in the "up" position (no tension on the spring). I plan to put it on a motor mount I just built before fooling around with that massive spring.<br /><br />rwise: thanks. I will contact you once I get the motor where I can work on it.<br /><br /> <br /><br />FYI, there are more pics of my motor Here<br /><br />It doesn't look _too_ bad, although it is pretty dirty, and has been out in the elements a while.

Re: 1959 Johnson V4S-11 50HP Super Sea-horse

ok, so I finally got the motor up and mounted on my "saw-horse". I popped the heads off, and there is a massive amount of crud in there. lotsa carbon, and a good bit of rust (no wonder I couldn't operate the pull-start.) Question: do you think it's possible to make it run again without major machine-shop work? I am by no means equipped or moneyed enough to tackle an overhaul of that magnitude. Will soaking it in wd-40 and taking some fine steel wool to it work? I don't mind tearing the whole thing apart for a complete rebuild, but I have to keep the budget and complexity down to a minimum.<br /><br />Thanks again!

Re: 1959 Johnson V4S-11 50HP Super Sea-horse

use pb blaster instead of wd40, and remember that e-mail

Hello,

I found this forum and could use so help. I am in the process of trying to get my newly acquired 1959 Johnson 50hp running. I replaced everything I could and clean out the carb. When I try to start it I am getting backfiring and a little sputter but it will not start and run. The plugs are getting a little wet but some of the piston heads look dry. At this point I am beginning to thing it has too low of compression.

Can anyone tell me what the compression should be in each cylinder? I am between 75-81 on all cylinders.

what other reasons could it be not starting?

Perform a check on magneto belt timing.----Belt timing might be off.----Or plug wires going to the wrong cylinders.----Does spark jump a gap of 5/16" on all of the 4 leads ?

Fat fifty hopeful said:

Hello,

I found this forum and could use so help. I am in the process of trying to get my newly acquired 1959 Johnson 50hp running. I replaced everything I could and clean out the carb. When I try to start it I am getting backfiring and a little sputter but it will not start and run. The plugs are getting a little wet but some of the piston heads look dry. At this point I am beginning to thing it has too low of compression.

Can anyone tell me what the compression should be in each cylinder? I am between 75-81 on all cylinders.

what other reasons could it be not starting?

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Please dont reply to old inactive topics.

Asking unrelated questions about your motor in someone else's topic is considered a hijack.

Start a topic about your Fat 50
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