1961 fd15 18 horse johnson help

[arms4223]

restoring my motor and would like to know what controls will work on it including starter ,wiring harness.trottle and shift,steering etc.presently manual start with tiller control.also i have purchased coils,condensor,points,lower seal kit,carb kit from sierra but was told there is not a fuel pump kit for my model.can anyone help with a kit or a alternative pump that will work. new to forum and excuse the typing thanks.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: 1961 fd15 18 horse johnson help

Welcome to Iboats, arms!

Any OMC (Johnson or Evinrude) control with a mechanical shift setup up till now should work just fine. The shift and throttle cables from the pre '79 motors are a little different but you can connect one to the other. Just make sure you get pre '79 cables with the appropriate termination for whatever shift/throttle box you get.

Electric start setup from a 25(60s-70s), 20(60s-early 70s), or 18hp can be used. The setup can be purchased from the dealer but it's fairly pricey at about $400. The starter itself is the same as the Big Twin starter (28/35/33/40hp up into the 70s) so they're pretty easy to get your hands on.

I don't think there's a rebuild kit for the fuel pump that's originally on the engine, but there are for the 2" square pump that's supposed to replace it (PN 388685). Is your fuel pump not working? If it does work, I suggest you run it as is, they seem to stand up OK to todays gas.

 

[arms4223]

Re: 1961 fd15 18 horse johnson help

thanks paul for all the info and as for the fuel pump i think its fine but i was just going to rebuild because of rebuilding the carb.i hope it was okay to spray it out with carb cleaner.so far have put new seals in lower unit,rebuilt carb,tune up.i have one more question regarding thermostat.i pulled the housing cover and there was no thermostat.i put in the one i ordered and was wondering what your opinion was about them and what purpose do they serve on these small engines.