Inherited 78 fiberglass boat with 58 Johnson 35 sea horse motor.

Hello all, new to all this boating kinda stuff, more of a land lubber than anything else. Just recently inherited a boat from a deceased grand father. Right up front I know nothing about outboards, I had some experience some time ago pulling Homelite outboard engines and converting them to Three quarter midget race engines. But this Johnson is totally martian to me. My oldest son wants to ready it for fishing...so what should we be doing to this thing to make sure it is water worthy? It has been sitting for over 10 years. I am looking for any help I can get. Suggestions and your experience is greatly appreciated. Engine states it is a RDS 20 ser number 1802389.

Re: Inherited 78 fiberglass boat with 58 Johnson 35 sea horse motor.

For starters I would make sure the boat is sound check for soft spots in the floos and transom. After that I would get yourself some nice fresh fuel Mabel in a new tank mix it with oil a fair bit heavy for the first time. Change the plugs with the proper replacements gaped correctly. Change the oil in the lower unit checking to see what the oil looks like coming out. Oh and check the fuel line and primer bulb if it's been sitting that long it could be junk. After that you could throw on some muffs or dunk it in a garbage can and Gina it a crank and see where your at.

Re: Inherited 78 fiberglass boat with 58 Johnson 35 sea horse motor.

Well you got one sweet motor there, I love them, have 1 or 2

Bad news is that there will be some consumable items that will need to be replaced, good news is that those motors are bulletproof and with a little sweat and equity should be a great runner.

Start with a compression test, the compression will hopefully be in the 100-140 psi range, most importantly even between cylinders.

If the compression tests out, time to start inspecting/replacing parts.

Start with the ignition. Remove the recoil and the magneto inspection panel on the flywheel. Turn the flywheel clockwise and inspect the ignition. Has it been updated, OR are the coils original and cracked? If they are original/cracked dont bother testing them, just remove the flywheel and replace. They are no good, I guarantee it. We can get more detailed on the ignition when time comes.

After done, retorque the flywheel and pull the carb. It will need to be dissasembled and soaked in carb cleaner. The old fuel left in the carb will be varnished. After a soaking, blow out all the passages with carb cleaner, wash with soap and water, then blast dry with compressed air. Once clean, install a carb kit and reinstall on motor.

It is now time to drop the lower unit and change the impeller in the water pump. They are made of rubber and dry rot/crack. It needs to be replaced, it is a vital piece which keeps the powerhead cool.

Replace the gear oil with fresh along with new washers on the drain/vent screw. If it is milky there is water intrusion and the gearcase will need to be resealed. They may need to be even if the oil is black but you wont know without water testing or pressure testing it.

Enjoy her for the next 50 years

Just a quick rundown of restoring one of these antiques, once you are ready we can go into more detail. A Service manual and parts manual will be necessary, we can help with that.

Post a pic....we love them pictures

Re: Inherited 78 fiberglass boat with 58 Johnson 35 sea horse motor.

HighTrim said:

Well you got one sweet motor there, I love them, have 1 or 2

Bad news is that there will be some consumable items that will need to be replaced, good news is that those motors are bulletproof and with a little sweat and equity should be a great runner.

Start with a compression test, the compression will hopefully be in the 100-140 psi range, most importantly even between cylinders.

If the compression tests out, time to start inspecting/replacing parts.

Start with the ignition. Remove the recoil and the magneto inspection panel on the flywheel. Turn the flywheel clockwise and inspect the ignition. Has it been updated, OR are the coils original and cracked? If they are original/cracked dont bother testing them, just remove the flywheel and replace. They are no good, I guarantee it. We can get more detailed on the ignition when time comes.

After done, retorque the flywheel and pull the carb. It will need to be dissasembled and soaked in carb cleaner. The old fuel left in the carb will be varnished. After a soaking, blow out all the passages with carb cleaner, wash with soap and water, then blast dry with compressed air. Once clean, install a carb kit and reinstall on motor.

It is now time to drop the lower unit and change the impeller in the water pump. They are made of rubber and dry rot/crack. It needs to be replaced, it is a vital piece which keeps the powerhead cool.

Replace the gear oil with fresh along with new washers on the drain/vent screw. If it is milky there is water intrusion and the gearcase will need to be resealed. They may need to be even if the oil is black but you wont know without water testing or pressure testing it.

Enjoy her for the next 50 years

Just a quick rundown of restoring one of these antiques, once you are ready we can go into more detail. A Service manual and parts manual will be necessary, we can help with that.

Post a pic....we love them pictures

Click to expand...

Hells bells , what the heck torque is on that flywheel? She doesnt want to come off.

Re: Inherited 78 fiberglass boat with 58 Johnson 35 sea horse motor.

1958 35hp = 60-65 Ft..Lbs.
You might need a strap wrench to hold the flywheel
Use a harmonic balancer puller w/ grade 8 bolts to pull the flywheel.
Look at cajuncook's post about halfway down this thread for all info you'll need:
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=531940

Re: Inherited 78 fiberglass boat with 58 Johnson 35 sea horse motor.

We got the flywheel and the carb off the motor. Checking the inside hub of the flywheel we have noticed a crack. I will try and post a picture for your assessments.

Re: Inherited 78 fiberglass boat with 58 Johnson 35 sea horse motor.

Here is a picture of the coil area and hub crack, also the one coil is not looking good.

Re: Inherited 78 fiberglass boat with 58 Johnson 35 sea horse motor.

Hmmmm those coils look to me like the ones from '53 to the 60's, they are usually much worse though. If those are the ones that I think they are, they actually held up not too bad, but still look like they are toasted.

My eyes must be terrible, I cannot see from the pics the crack in the flywheel? Where exactly is it?

Were you able to check the compression?

Re: Inherited 78 fiberglass boat with 58 Johnson 35 sea horse motor.

I was unable to take compression, but I think its OK. I will test it once I have the battery issues taken care of. I am re posting a picture of the crack with it marked. This site really condensed the picture.

Re: Inherited 78 fiberglass boat with 58 Johnson 35 sea horse motor.

Update, first off, thanks to everyone who has replied to this thread...I have learned a lot and saved me what hair I have left. As for the outboard, we have located a replacement flywheel and removed the bottom leg, like everyone stated the bottom is in need of help. Dry seals, cracked water pump impeller etc...my question is where is the best place to order parts from? Besides the bottom end we will need to replace the coils points condensers. Thanking you in advance. Mark

Re: Inherited 78 fiberglass boat with 58 Johnson 35 sea horse motor.

I am rather new to this myself and haven't ordered many parts for my boat yet but all the recommendations I've gotten say this is a good place to go and marine engines.com is another. Good luck getting her in shape.