Stupid question - cover plate gasket

Hi everyone,

So I was replacing the impeller and the crankshaft seal on my '72 Johnson 25HP last weekend, and when I took off the plate for the access for the shift rod linkage, the paper gasket fell apart. I have an old '62 28HP Seahorse parts motor in the garage, so I took the gasket off that and swapped it to the '72.

My question is, will it work? I went to a local marine shop, and they did not have the one for the '72, so the guy said he'd just buy a gasket strip and cut his own if it were him. The one from the '62 seems to be about the right size and the plate cinches down on it good. I figure it is better than anything I would cut myself. So am I fine to run it with this other gasket? It looked to be in good shape.

Thanks! Just trying to ease my mind.

Re: Stupid question - cover plate gasket

Yes, run it.

Re: Stupid question - cover plate gasket

As long as it is not impeding on anything and it seals then yes. personally I would have made one up and put a little gasket "goop" on it. Cereal box and gasket goop is a great emergency repair if ever necessary.

Re: Stupid question - cover plate gasket

The worst that can happen if it doesn't seal is you might get some water coming out of it when running. This shouldn't bother the operation of the mtr.