1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

I thought I'd start this thread because I see a lot of questions about how to do this and that, people asking for part numbers ect.

I'm about as inexperienced as they come when it comes to making an old outboard run, this is going to be my first, start to finish, no matter what the out come is going to be, so I'm not going to guarantee anyone that this motor is going to work when I'm done with it, but rather, this is going to be my attempt at making one run.

first, a word about the motor.

as with most of us, this is a motor I found at a garage sale for 25 bucks last summer, so I knew nothing about it when I got it, other then it looked complete, had compression (as far as I could tell from pulling the starter rope) and the price seemed fare.

as I progress through this, your more then welcome to post comments and ideas, remember, I am pretty green at this, so I could very possibly make a mistake along the way, so if you see me doing something wrong, or have a better idea then I do about how to make this run, then please say something, I'm all ears, (or in this case, eyes) and very open to constructive criticism.

so with this little "pre-statement" out of the way lets get started.

here's what the motor looks like after I got it cleaned up, before I started tearing it apart. looks like a nice candidate for a good running outboard with a little work.

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

I'm a guy that has to work on a budget, that's why I look for cheap garage sale type outboards, otherwise, I'd just go out and buy a new one that would come with a warranty, and if it broke down, I could take it in and have it fixed ...sounds simple enough ...for the rich, which I'm not.

but on the other hand, I'm also a guy that would rather know my own motors, if something goes wrong, I want to be able to fix it myself, if it quits running while out on the lake or river, I like knowing that I'll have some sort of idea as to what could be wrong with it, which could possibly put me in a position to fix it while out on the river or lake if needed.

But, as with all of us, we don't want to be stuck out on the lake or river with a dead outboard, so the trick is, repairing one in a way that you know it will be as reliable as you can possibly make it.

with this little Johnson 5.5, I know the first step for me was making a stand where I could easily work on it. I've never had a way of running a motor up at home other then hanging it off the back of the boat, I wanted something simple, something I could put the motor on, slide a garbage can under it, and run it in my driveway, so I scrounged around for some wood, found some casters at a garage sale, and built a rolling outboard stand. (see first 2 pictures)

I also felt I needed something to set the lower unit up in, something simple, so I ripped a 2x4 down the middle, and nailed it to the edge of the work bench, now I don't have to work on the lower unit in my lap like I did when I had to change out the impeller on the old 9.9 Evinrude.

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

I know nothing about the old Johnson 5.5's.

In this case, the one I'm working on is a 1955 model CD-12

the first valuable lesson I learned is that it is mandatory that you at the very least, have a manual for it. not only does a parts manual give you all the part numbers (which you can cross reference) but it also give you a blow up view of how the parts all fit together, so if your going to do any repair or rebuilding, get a parts manual.

you can ask around, or go buy one from ebay, or a number of other sources, but other then having someone give you one (which I was fortunate enough to find someone willing to send me one, and I thank that guy very much for the help) either way, a parts manual is a must.

I also went through google and did a search for a Johnson 5.5, Johnson CD12, ect, and found and printed up everything I could find on it, (see picture), I got lots of info, and that photo of all the paper work is info I found on my motor by doing those google searches, that info is also invaluable, it's worth the time it takes to sit down and search.

while I was searching, I found two good sites on repairing and tuning up the 5.5, and one of those sites was an article on tuning up a 1955 Johnson 5.5 through duck works magazine, from with I was able to obtain some additional part number that I either wanted or needed.

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

The other thing your going to want to get is a parts number cross reference, the old OMC numbers are not the same numbers that Sierra uses, for BRP, I've found that if you ad a "0" to the front of the original OMC number, if it's still avalable, then you can do a google search for it. for example, if your omc number is 303586 (that's an exhaust gasket by the way) ad a "0" to the front of it and do a google search for "BRP 0303586" and if the part can still be had, you should be able to find someone selling it.

the next thing I did is put together as list of parts I was going to need to repair the outboard, I like shopping at NAPA auto parts (I get all my car parts there) and I know they carry the Sierra line, so I got everything I could through Sierra and made up a list I could print up and take in to my local NAPA store, what I didn't feel I could get from NAPA, I whent with BRP, and orderd those on line.

here's a break down of what parts I'm going to use and where their going to come from, the BRP parts I ordered today, and the NAPA parts I will order tomorrow when I stop by my local NAPA store.

the BRP numbers are:
0580339 spark plug boot (pack of 10)
0510231 Spring clip for end of spark plug
03033586 exhaust gasket

then I made up a list of parts that I would need to take with me to NAPA and this is it here:
(1) 18-2901 (power head to lower unit gasket)
this part number will work for the power head to lower unit gasket, but the correct part number for the 1955 CD12 is OMC (BRP) 303467
(1) 18-5006 (ignition tune up kit)
(2) 18-5181 (coil)
(1) 18-6501 (recoil spring)
(1) 18-7043 (carb kit)
(1) 18-7828 (fuel filter)
(1) 18-2885 (head gasket)
(1) 18-2892 (round gasket for top of drive shaft)
(1) 18-7180 (O-ring for top of drive shaft)
(1) 18-3329 (lower water tube seal)
(1) 18-2891 (gasket, bottom of pump to lower unit)
(1) 18-3001 (impeller)
(2) 18-2945 (lower unit drain, fill, screw gaskets)

Other parts to get from Napa

3 feet of fuel line (take sample)
2 feet of vaccume line (take sample)


(10) small hose clamps (for fuel line and vaccume line)
(2) Champion J6C (spark plugs)
(1) drive shaft roll pin for top of drive shaft under spring (take sample)
6 feet of 5/32? starter rope (starter rope)
2 quarts of lower unit oil 80/90w HiVis full Synthetic.
3 feet of solid copper core spark plug wire. (7mm?)

the next postings will be the rebuild itself, and what I find as I tear into this outboard

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

Ok, another lesson learned, your not going to save any money by ordering your parts through NAPA, I did order from NAPA, but had I taken the time to order online instead, I could have saved myself enough money to buy round trip airfare for 2 to New York, and spent a couple days held up in the Waldorf Astoria.

so far, I've ordered some parts from NAPA, boats.net, and a local marine store that deals with older outboards here in town, had I gone there first, I could have probably saved a bundle, but what's done is done, now I have to wait a week for the parts to arrive before I can get started on the repair.

I was able to pick up some stuff locally today, I'll post pictures later tonight of what I got, and my opinions on the parts.

I'm also noticing a discrepancy in the part number for the gasket that goes between the power head and the lower unit, I ordered Sierra number 18-2901 from napa, I located that number from an article I read in Duckworth Magazine column where the guy did the same work to his 1955 Johnson 5.5 that I'm going to be doing to mine, and that's the gasket number he used according to his article, but when I look up that part number in the 1954 parts manual I have, it's a different number, and when I looked it up at the local marine parts store that actually has the parts manual for the 1955, it lists is as OMC 304314, which translates into another Sierra part number. So while I may have that gasket coming from NAPA, I'll have to do some more research as to the differences between gaskets, it's my understanding that you don't want to use the wrong gasket because it could lead you into some additional problems with water getting up into areas of the power head where it don't belong.

One needs to make sure they use the correct part numbers, another reason, a parts manual for your year of outboard is mandatory.

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

the first picture is of the hose clamps I got at NAPA, I asked for the smallest they have, and got these, way to big in my opinion, so, when I stopped by the vintage outboard place, I asked them what they use for hose clamps, and the guy handed me a plastic tie strap, you can see it in the lower right side of the picture, the guy told me they use them all the time and they work great, that's an idea I never thought about, but seems like a good idea to me, I'll be going with the tie straps.

the second picture is of the spark plug wire, I found this at the vintage outboard place, I considered this to be a good find.

the third picture is of the starter rope, fuel line, vacuum line, and lower unit oil.

I'll admit, I'm a little lost on the lower unit oil, reading on the net about what to use, I saw reference to the 80/90w oil, so I got a tube of it from napa, that stuff is made by CRC, but when I stopped off at the vintage outboard place, that guy told me to use the Evinrude/Johnson stuff, according to him, that's the best you can get.

today I'm going to stop off at the vintage outboard place and pick up the correct gasket that goes between the power head and lower unit, it seems that my original part number for that gasket was incorrect.

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

OK, I messed up again, I bought the correct power head to lower unit gasket today, (or so I thought) but it turned out to be the wrong one (see first 2 pictures, I have the difference marked in red on the new gasket.

I chose this gasket based on the information found in the parts manual for the 1955 CD-12 that is up at the local vintage outboard parts store, so apparently, the information I looked at was incorrect.

one of the reasons for writing these postings is so anyone interested in going through a vintage outboard can have an idea of what is involved, based on what's written here from someone that has no experience at this at all, I'm sure there's easier ways of doing this, but for the new kid on the block (me) not having any experience with this at all, I'm finding this to not be all that easy, I think actually doing the repair work (once I have all the correct parts) will be easy enough, but I'm finding that tracking down the parts to do the job it rather time consuming, but that's ok, I'm looking forward to the finished product when I'm done with this.

one area I did luck out in was finding a fuel filter, while up at the vintage outboard parts store today, I asked the guy behind the counter for the smallest fuel filter I could find to put in-line between the carburetor and the fuel fitting the pressure hose plugs into and we came up with the small filter as sen in the second two pictures.

I'm not sure how an old Johnson is going to run with a Mercury part in it but we shell find out

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

I got board waiting for the Johnson parts to arrive, (they finally came in yesterday, well, most of them showed up, there's still some stuff that's not here yet)

I was given this old electric outboard a couple of weeks ago and I was about to toss it in the trash last week but decided to hook it up to a battery and see what happened, the darn thing ran, and it runs good. so I did a little research on the net to see if I could learn anything about it, there's not much info out there on this little motor, my best guess is it's a late 1940's Sportsmaster, 1 horse, (according to the tag on it anyway)

I got some rattle can primer, and some paint, did a little sanding, and now it's looks somewhat good again.

here's a couple of before and after pictures, it was pretty rusty, but cleaned right up once I got some paint on it.

I don't think I'm going to be trusting this motor to any extended fishing excursions, but it might be fun for a trip or two across the pond.

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

I ordered a Johnson manual on CD off ebay, (see last two pictures) it covers from 1924 to 1964, 700 plus pages, but it doesn't seem to go into great depth on this little 5.5 horse I'm working on.

it would be nice to find a maintenance manual for the CD-12, but I haven't found one yet, (unless I want to pay big bucks for it from Ken Cook) so I'll keep watching ebay until one turns up.

meanwhile, I do have a parts manual for a CD10 and 11, and they're pretty close to the CD12, so that will do in a pinch, I was also able to locate an OMC to Sierra part number interchange list off the internet (see first picture) that's helped a lot in locating parts.

I decided to start at the lower unit with a seal kit, and work my way up the outboard.

if you people have any ideas or suggestions, I'm certainly open for criticism, I'm new at this and am bound to make mistakes, so I'm going to share what I've learned, what my opinions are, and my suggestions, so please jump in there and correct me if you see me making a mistake.

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

I did some reading before I started working on the outboard and read where a seal puller and an O-ring pick would come in handy, so off to harbor freight I went, and for less then 10 bucks, I got both.

the tools came in handy on the lower unit, they made life a whole lot easier and I don't like fighting with stuff if there's an easier way of doing it, so it would be my thought that having these tools would is a good idea.

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

I did manage to get the lower unit apart, replaced the seals and O-Rings, but I have to admit, that shift rod O-ring is a major pain in the back side to change out, well at least for me, until I figured out how to do it, I used a long roll pin punch and drove out the bushing from the back side, changing out the O-ring was real easy then.

the lower unit and all the gears looked great, no damage anywhere, nothing looks worn out, and I've already got all the seals and O-rings replaced, so now it's just a matter of putting it back together.

I'll be putting the lower unit back together in the next day or so, but I'm going to do some more reading first, I like to educate myself as best as possable in hopes that I'm not going to make a mistake and mess something up when I put it pack together.

the following pictures are the lower unit parts, and a picture of the pesky shift rod seal and bushing, (so far, that's the only part of the lower unit I haven't liked messing with.

there's no promises that this is going to come out leak free, but I'm going to do my best, and if you have any ideas or sugestions as I attemt to put this back together, let me know

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

let me know if I have any of this information incorrect.

this is the seal kit for the lower unit, and a discription of where each part goes, (see picture)

I used the parts acording to the discription in the picture, so if I got any of it wrong, please speak up

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

When I tore apart the lower unit on this 5.5, it made me a tad bit nervous, I felt like I was getting into no-mans land, but this is where a maintenance manual and parts list come in handy. I was nervous tearing apart the lower unit only because of my inexperience.

According to Johnson, as is written in the maintenance manual I got off ebay, they state the following information about the lower unit:

?The Model CD lower unit is of simple but sturdy construction and built along conventional lines as employed in other models, except that cushion mounting and an exhaust expansion or silencing chamber ? attached to the exhaust stack ? have been included to reduce audible operating noises to a minimum. Cushing mounting minimizes sounding board effect of the transom to which the motor is attached while the exhaust silencer acts to reduce the staccato effect of exhaust discharge.
A gear shifting arrangement ? forward, neutral and reverse is provided. A propeller shock absorber is built into the driveshaft assembly ? maintenance and assembly operations are not difficult to perform.?

I especially liked that last part, ?maintenance and assembly operations are not difficult to perform.?

After I got it apart, I realized, Johnson was right, there?s really not much to it.

I printed up every page I could find that pertained to the lower unit, and worked off the information that was written in those pages when I resealed it.

The first picture is a cut away view of the lower unit, that will give you an idea of how it?s built before you tear it apart.

The second picture is an exploded view of the lower unit, if you forget how something is supposed to go together, you can refer to the exploded views, trust me, that helps a lot.

The third picture is of the top end of the lower unit, (there?s a few parts up there you don?t want to mix up or worse yet, lose) and this picture and text explains that, including, providing you with some important part numbers.

I got a little confused when I decided to reinstall the impeller, and couldn?t remember which way the impeller legs were supposed to go, but was able to refer to the 4th picture and was able to figure it out.

I can't stress it enough, if your going to work on one of these, you'll be doing yourself a big favor by getting a parts manual, and a maintenance manual, the cheapest place I've seen to get one is ebay. the manuals will make all the difference in the world.

the motors are not hard to work on at all, but to a lot of us just getting into outboards, their foreign, it's like venturing into a land you've never stepped foot on before, so get your self some manuals.

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

The first thing I did when I decided to put it all back together was reinstall the shift rod, (see first picture), then I installed the shock absorber, (see second picture) I have to admit, that is kind of a nifty little unit, but if you break it, replacing it is going to cost you a few bucks, so try not to hit anything while out on the water.
I went looking for the Scotchgrip 847 that wbeaton suggested, and I couldn?t find it locally, so it looks like my only option was is mail order it, so I went to my local auto parts store and looked through their rack of sealants, and I think I came up with a close match, Permatex 97 supper high tack gasket sealant. (see 3rd picture)
I then proceeded to lay out the permatex on the lower unit, according to the repair manual, it says to use the sealant somewhat liberally in this area, so I did, (see 4th picture) I then installed the spaghetti seal, and cut it according to what was written in the book. (5th picture)

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

I forgot to ad a picture, this is the information out of the book about the spaghetti seal, and how to install it.

without this information, I wouldn't have known to cut the spaghetti seal the way I did. I probably would have cut it off flush with the edge, then called it good. and wondered later why the lower unit was leaking.

so, here's another good example why it's a good idea to get those manuals if your going to be working on your outboard.

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

I then installed the gear assembly back into the lower unit, and added more gasket sealer.

at this point, I'm ready to install the skeg

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

I'll admit, I kind of got ahead of myself on the lower unit, when I started putting it back together, I wasn't taking pictures of each and every step, so I kind of forgot to get pictures of the impeller assembly as I put it back together, but I assure you, it's a simple matter, not much to it at all other then, remember to put that little drive pin back in the shaft when you install the new impeller, if you forget that, the impeller isn't going to work.

here's the last of the lower unit pictures for now, I reinstalled the skeg, (see first picture)

I also rplaced the old roll pin at the top of the shaft with a new one because the old one had some ware to it, install the new roll pin while you have the lower unit out so you can easly access the roll pin, I used a small hammer and lightly tapped it into the shaft (second picture)

while I was at it, and while I had the lower unit all apart, I used a tooth brush, solvent, and compressed air, and cleaned out the water intake at the bottom of the lower unit, it was plugged up bretty good, sorry for such a blury picture (third picture) I need to get better with the camera.

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

next I reinstalled all the componets at the top of the drive shaft, these are the parts that you have to watch out for, they can go flying if you don't remove the power head straight up and off the top of the lower unit, make sure they go back on the correct way when you put it back together.

first you install the lower washer or bottom spring retainer (first picture) then the spring (second picture) then the top plastic washer (third picture) then I added some 3-in-one oil before I slid on the O-ring (forth and fifth picture)

Re: 1955 Johnson 5.5 CD-12, will it run again?

then you ad the top washer, (first picture, then last but not least, the top gasket (second picture) but in my case, this is the old used washer, I only used it for the photo, you always want to replace this with a new one, never use the old one over again, I haven't gotten a new one yet, I'm still waiting for it to show up in the mail.

as with all gaskets, it's my reasoning that if you disturb a gasket in anyway, I feel it should be replaced, I know a lot of people will use old gaskets over again if they seem to be in good shape, but for me, if I disturbed it, I prefer to replace it with a new one, I'm not talking about just the top drive shaft gasket as seen in the picture, I'm talking about any and all gaskets.