74 20hp Johnson

bmflyfish said:

"I have a 20 hp Johnson outboard-tiller. It's a 1974, w/ starter. I put on 2 new coils, spark plugs, new stainless, new water pump. It ran great...for about a minute. My buddy didn't put the water pump in correctly. It got hot and scored the pistons. I took it to a mechanic and he offered me $100 for it or $900 to fix it. Ouch! I'm not a mechanic but if you're handy you should be able to fix it for about $500 bucks. It's in really great shape. I kept it around to try and take a crack at it. I just don't have the time."



I found the following craigslist add and I was wanting an opinion on whether or not this could be worth following up on. I would be the one who would do the the rebuild. Doing a rebuild with a manual be worth it? As a side note I have never rebuilt an outboard, only 4.0 Jeep motors. Since I am ignorance on rebuilding an outboard, my thinking of could be way off base. Thanks for all the insights!

Thanks Brian

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The original Smokey said:

Rebuilding this motor WILL cost you more than it's worth.
Oversize pistons - $160
Gaskets, seals, etc - $90
Machine work to bore cylinders - $120
Any bearings needed will be expensive as well, the rod bearings are NLA.
The center split sleeze is almost $100.
Then you get it apart and find out the crank has a burnt or water marked journal, then all your money is done the toilet.

Is a 74 20 hp worth it? Not to me...
You could find a decent running 20 for about $400 and run it till it drops.

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