Did I just strike gold?

[dabrackmaster]

1979 Johnson 70EL79

At first glance I was skeptic at the outer appearance. This motor was free with clear title.
Throttle moved flawlessly as well as the choke ,switch, fast idle lever, and steering. Honestly I never even took the cowl off cause I was trying to play it cool. Lol.....

When I got it home, I checked the primer bulb/hose and the engine connect fitting, all looked like it couldn't have been bought more than a year ago.

So I couldn't help myself, couldn't wait til daylight.
Pulled the cowl off tonight and WOW OH WOW! It was so clean you could eat off of any part of the engine.

The inspected by: sticker is still there. 39 years old and it looked like I stepped back in time.
Factory OEM starter, wiring, solenoid, plugs, wires, EVERYTHING! All linkages still had good grease on them.

AND IT'S THE SALTWATER VERSION AS WELL!

MY CONCERNS:
Compression is solid.
Prop shaft nice and unmolested.
Factory Prop also unmolested.
Tell tale clogging from the usual suspects.
The flywheel nor the starter doesn't show
not even the slightest wear at all.

These engines blue book at around 1500 in fair shape.

Should I just slap an impeller in, drop it in the tank, and give it a shot?

 

[dabrackmaster]

Also, my BIGGEST concern of all.....
Notice in the picture on the side with the starter,
What is the green stuff under the flywheel?

 

[racerone]

Green stuff is the colour of insulation on the stator.-----What do you mean by ----" it is the saltwater version "

 

[dabrackmaster]

Not my words, it was the info this site gave me according to model number. But they've made fresh/salt variants of the same engine before right?

 

[jimmbo]

No, in 79 they made the engine for all water. It was in the 80s and 90s that the salt water decal was introduced.

$1500 for a 39 yr old engine? Where? I'll ship a freight car full of them there

If a flywheel were to show wear, there would be something seriously wrong.

The props that were made and shipped in 79 were white, if the prop was AL and Black if SS, the 70 wasn't shipped with a SS prop. It was shipped with a 17" Al prop

First thing is a compression test. If that passes muster, then check for a good spark(7/16" gap) on all cylinders. Then replace the impeller. Check gearcase for water, a pressure/vacuum test would be a good idea, refill with High-Vis. or Mercury High Performance gear oil. A new fuel pump Diaphragm and new fuel lines to deal with todays garbage passed off as gasoline. Then with fresh fuel from a known clean tank and with water muffs or in the water, try to start it.

 

[dabrackmaster]

Thanks for the info jimbo.
it just stunned me that it was virtually spotless and appears that every single part, but, bolt, wire, and all look like they've never been touched by any tool other than the factory. Y'all root for me.

Compression is 133,131,and 134.
Gearcase had good looking oil in my opinion but will be replaced when I change impeller

I'll check spark tomorrow and if it's jumping a nice gap I'll be impressed

Also, after removing the plugs to check compression, what I could see with my light
cylinders appear to be gently used or well taken care of.

Updates in 12hrs

 

[dabrackmaster]

Oh and that price guide was NADA online lol. Although most mechanics charge $149/hr labor here and value their outboard stuff like gold I know that's obviously high.
Ok the prop is Black and seems to be SS so guess that's not stock...

 

[F_R]

SST is way far better than aluminum "stock". So you scored there.

 

[MTboatguy]

Free is sometimes a good price and sometimes it is a bad price.

It looks like it has been towed on gravel roads quite a bit with the paint wear on the lower, so I would plan on cleaning that up and repainting it. Other than that puts some muffs on it and get some clean gas and see how it runs,.