1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

[theBelvidere]

Hi all, first post here. I recently picked up this motor and tank at a flea market for $75. The model number is cd-16, so I'm pretty sure it's a '59. The tank appeared to be in pretty rough shape, there was a lot of crap shaking around in it. I took the top off and cleaned it out real good and I think it's actually OK. The top part that comes off, with the float lever and primer pump, does have a lot of corrosion and buildup on it. My question is what do I need to do to get it back in working order? I was thinking I could take the top part all apart and soak it in something to eat off the corrosion, but what should I soak it in? Also what kind of rubber could I get to fashion new seals that wouldn't get eaten up by gasoline? I assume I could cut out a new gasket from some regular gasket material like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Gasket-961...OLEC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1305757329&sr=8-2

A few other questions I have:

The float in the tank is also covered with all kinds of crap, should I try to clean that up and use it again or could I just replace it with a cork stopper from a wine bottle?

The shift lever is broken off just about an inch away from where it attaches to the bottom of the motor. What do I have to do to remove the shift lever? Can I do it without having to take off the lower part of the motor? I was thinking I could file down a piece of rebar or some other metal and jam it in there to shift gears. What's left of it isn't really even big enough to get a pair of vice grips on it. I think the gears are OK though because if I pull the starter chord when it's in gear the prop does turn.


I'd appreciate any advice you guys might have. I'm totally new to working on boat motors. I'm just a computer guy that loves fishing, but I've been reading a lot online about working on these old Johnson motors lately. I have a little john boat with a trolling motor, and when I saw this motor at the flea market and couldn't pass it up. The guy said it did run but I don't think it's been used in a while given the state of the tank. I'll try to upload some pictures.

Thanks

 

[steelespike]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

I would suggest a reprint factory repair manual expensive but may be available here at iboats.
Most parts for your tank are available at your Evinrude/Johnson/BRP dealer, ebay,
Lots of help and parts are at www.aomci.org Just don't ask what the motors worth.
There are many well established vendors on ebay

 

[theBelvidere]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

I think this is the manual I need:

http://www.iboats.com/Johnson-Evinr...3658496--**********.517372497--view_id.214854


I'm trying to get the tank fixed so I can at least see if it runs before I go and order the manual. I took the top of the tank the rest of the way apart and it looks like I can make use of the rubber seal thing, just need the gasket. And the quick connect thing, which it looks like is going to be hard to track down without ordering it online. I'll probably wind up taking off the three pronged connector and running longer hoses directly to the tank.

 

[HighTrim]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

The rebuild kits for the pressure tank you have can be bought on ebay. They include main gasket, diaphragm(rubber seal thing), double line, screw gaskets, filler cap gasket.

 

[theBelvidere]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

Correct you are, I don't think I was searching for the right thing earlier today when I looked on there. I guess I'll order the kit to be safe. I should have put some more fluid in it and tried the primer pump before I took the top off to clean it out, just to see how sealed it was to begin with. doh.

 

[Steve A W]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

theBelvidere
Here are three links You should check out;

http://www.precisionservoutboard.com/Information/ArtsFivePointPlan/tabid/65/Default.aspx

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=158086

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/07/columns/max/articles.htm

The CD model Johnsons are a great "First Motor". They're easy to work on, and they are great runners.

Good Luck with Your motor!
Steve A W

 

[theBelvidere]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

Thanks for the links. I've been reading a ton on this site and the duckworks site lately, but I hadn't found that index page yet.

 

[theBelvidere]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

Hello again, just wanted to update you guys on my progress with this motor. I just got done putting in the little Mukumi fuel pump like I read about people doing to convert these motors off the pressurized gas tank. Got it started up and it runs great. I didn't want to pay $40-50 for the little quick connect piece for the pressure tank, and I read bad things about the pressure tanks anyway, so I just went with the fuel pump.

I did screw up while taking off the intake manifold. I missed the screw in the middle and wound up cracking it. I was like why the hell won't this thing come off! Found a replacement manifold that came with the reed plate on ebay from a 1960. $27 or so with shipping for that. I drilled a hole in the new reed plate for the vacuum pump, and I kept the old one in case I do want ever want to convert it back. I also got the carb kit, cleaned up the carb, and replaced the float and needle. Most everything looked good except the float, which was all eaten up. I'm still pretty pleased with myself so far I haven't ran it in water yet so I'm not sure if the impeller is still good, I might get around to that tomorrow.

I found the shifter handle I needed on ebay for like $35, and from what I understand you have to take the engine off completely to replace that. I guess that will be my next challenge. I figure I've got about $180 in it so far, which isn't too terrible. I'm learning a lot anyway.

 

[jasper60103]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

Good job. Sounds like you found a new hobby. Have fun!

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

Good work...sounds like you are having fun with it, but beware...old outboards are like cats, you can't have just one...goes against nature's laws.

 

[theBelvidere]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

Heh, funny you say that. I also picked up another motor the other day, a 7.5 hp "JCPenney", that's about all it says on it. I think it's similar to a Sears Gamefisher. The guy said it needed a new magneto, which he had to go with it. I put that on and it still wouldn't start. I took apart the carb and it looked like the needle was stuck from where it sat for so long. It's a '79 and the guy said it hadn't been ran since around that same year. Cleaned up the carb and it started right up. Got it for $40. It's a lot lighter than the Johnson, but also a lot louder.

 

[theBelvidere]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

Ran it in a trashcan earlier. Had plenty of water coming out the exit hole, both gears worked fine, but I had trouble keeping it running. It would be going fine for a minute or two then just wimp out and die. I think I need thinner fuel lines, and less distance between the pump and the tank, not to mention gravity because the tank was on the ground a few feet below the motor. I could feel a pretty faint vacuum on the fuel line a total of about 1.5 feet from the pump input, but none at the end of the fuel line, so it's sucking but not sucking very hard. Of course I don't know how much it realy takes. All the new lines I put in are 1/4" just because a I had some lying around, going to take it all apart and put 5/32" and screw around with it some more and see if I can get the pump sucking more. Or maybe I need to drill out the hole in the reed plate a little bigger. It's too bad carburetors aren't transparent so you can see what's going on in there.

 

[Daviet]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

Before you go and modify anything, try it with the tank closer to the level of the engine.

 

[nwcove]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

not to hijack the tread, but are the cd 16's much different than the earlier cd series? i have a cd 13 and 14, and to convert those to a fuel pump set up, i didnt read anything about drilling holes?
enjoy the old outboard bug! i had no motors two months ago,(sold my 2000 johnson 25 last year) now i have three!......and looking for more!

 

[theBelvidere]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

I had to get a replacement intake manifold because I cracked the original one getting it off, due to my own ineptitude. The replacement was off a 1960, and it came with the matching reed plate, which didn't have the holes for the check valves that the '59 had, so rather than stopping up one of them and leaving the other check valve hole open, I just drilled a new hole on one side, which should have accomplished the same thing. I also had to drill a hole in the new intake manifold for the air nipple and hacksaw off the air nipple from the old manifold and file it down enough to hammer it into place on the new one, then I put jb weld all around it. It's kind of a Frankenstein job.

I couldn't find 5/32" fuel line anywhere locally so I ordered some from amazon, it's clear and tinted green so I should be able to see the gas moving through it, which will be cool, assuming it works in the end. Add another $15 to the total I've got in it

 

[theBelvidere]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

I got the new shift handle in. It was actually a lot easier getting the motor off than I figured it would be. The rubber seal on the drive shaft looks kind of hardened, I don't have a new one to replace it with though. I'll try to upload a couple of pictures. You can see the new shift handle in the upper left. Is there anything else I should do while I have the motor off? Should I put any more grease or oil anywhere to help lubricate the parts of the inside of the engine that I can get to?

 

[nwcove]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

still confused about the way you did the fuel pump conversion, but if you're getting a pressure/vacuum pulse on the crank side of the pump, and vacuum on the intake side of the pump it should pump fuel.

 

[theBelvidere]

Re: 1959 Johnson Seahorse 5.5

still confused about the way you did the fuel pump conversion, but if you're getting a pressure/vacuum pulse on the crank side of the pump, and vacuum on the intake side of the pump it should pump fuel.

I'll see if I can clarify with some pictures.



Here's the front of the old reed plate. The two holes at the bottom used to have the check valves in them. They're just little rubber flaps that are seated in those round grooves. When pressure builds up inside the crankcase the check valv opens (toward the camera) allowing air to go out through bottom of the intake manifold and to the gas tank to pressurize it. The new reed plate was exactly the same except it was missing those two holes, it was just flat metal there.




Here's another picture that shows how the check valves go in there.




Here's the back of the old intake manifold (notice the big crack). It goes on over the check valves in the above pic. The open area in the lower left of it is where the check valves open into, on the lower left corner of the manifold there used to be a little nozzle to attach the air hose to that went to the tank. I had to hacksaw it off and attach it to the new manifold because the new one was made without it. It was pressed in there and I tried like hell but I couldn't pull it out.




Here's the other side of the reed plate, the part that faces into the engine. When the cylinder goes up and pressure goes down inside the crankcase, the check valve closes, preventing air from entering so the vacuum inside the crank case pulls air and gas in from the carb only and no air leaks in from the lower hole in the reed plate.


The new reed plate didn't have the holes for the check valves because the 1960 didn't need to output air to pressurize the tank. There's a little groove on the engine block that opens up right behind the check valve hole and allows air from the crankcase to make its way out when the cylinder is going down. To convert the old style ones to use a fuel pump you take off both the check valves then plug up one of the holes, so that every other stroke of the engine one of the cylinders is sucking air in through the check valve hole that you left open. That drives the vacuum pump. I figured if I took my new reed plate, which lacked both holes, and just drilled a new hole on one side, it would work the same.

Sorry for the long winded explanation. I'm just showing off my newfound knowledge of how these things work It didn't make any sense until I finally realized that the crankcase was divided into two sections, with one rod in each, and that as each cylinder went up and down it would push and pull air into only its own side of the engine rather than just pulling air from the other side, because I thought they were open in the middle. That kind of blew my mind

I'm still waiting on the fuel line. I just got the carb back together, I only replaced the float and the needle that regulates the gas flowing into the carb the first time I took it apart because I assumed everything else was fine. It turns out the packing in the orifices was almost gone, I think that might have been causing a problem. I'm also pretty sure I didn't have the float adjusted right because once I got it back together I couldn't blow any air in at all through the gas input nozzle. I didn't try that the last time. I took it back apart and bent the float adjuster down a bit, and after putting it back together that time I was able to blow air through it. I didn't adjust it at all when I put it together the first time, it was straight out of the carb kit.