early 80's 70 hp Johnson opinions

[imported_beck]

Hi to all,

I lost my 48 spl to Katrina along with my home. My x neighbor's son aquired a boat and motor from his uncle two doors down. I am familiar with the boat and motor as they used to be neighbors. Anyway I think the fiberglass boat sorta floated around rather than sinking. My all. flat floated until hitting the top of the carport than filled with water and sunk. The son replaced the motor with a larger motor. He said it ran fine but was underpowered. He now has the motor on a stand and it seems to run fine. I would like input as to the pros and cons of this year/model motor. Reliability, parts avaliable etc.

It does not have ptt but my boat has that as I had just added a CMC ptt to the my boat months before the storm.

I would love to just go out and buy a new motor but under the circumstances I cannot justify the outlay at this time. He is asking $1000.00 for the motor.

When I used to work on my flat I had my 2 1/2 year old grandaughter in the boat playing. Now she's 4 and still asks when are we going fishing. Amazing what they remember.

Sincerly,
Beck

Ps: Don't get me wrong it could be worse, my wife was going to stay home for katrina, (she watches my grandaughter) she was tired of evacuating for the previous 3 storms. Thats why the flat boat had the plug in and was untied from the trailer etc. I brought the life jackets in the house. I am essential personel at work so I would not have been home. Water was 1 foot in the attic of our one story home. She left Sun. morning.

 

[jtexas]

Re: early 80's 70 hp Johnson opions

Re: early 80's 70 hp Johnson opions

Real sorry to hear about your losses, beck.

You're looking at one of the most durable reliable machines ever built. I have a '79, mostly the same technology. They must have made a hundred thousand or more of those throughout the 80's into the 90's. Parts are available and not too expensive. And you don't have to be a total motorhead to work on it.

Apart from concern about whether it was submerged, and/or properly cared for in saltwater environment, I wouldn't hesitate to own another one.

and welcome to the forum!

 

[imported_beck]

Re: early 80's 70 hp Johnson opinions

jtexas

Thanks for the reply, what do you think about the price?

beck

 

[Kevin W]

Re: early 80's 70 hp Johnson opinions

If the motor is in good condition and low hours i would have no problems with $1k.
you may want to do a compression test on it and make sure all cylinders read aprox. equal.
There are still alot of parts avalable for these older motors so i would not be concerned with it bring 25+ years old.
Unfortunately for you there are not as many used engines in your area because of Katrina.
There are most likely alot of salty parts.
You could also try to talk him down a bit...the NADA is less then 300$ for a motor that old.
good luck.

 

[imported_beck]

Re: early 80's 70 hp Johnson opinions

Thanks for the input Kevin

"alot of salty parts" thats for sure! I will discuss the price a little more with him. The problem was there was one other 70 hp aprox. the same age with the lower unit rebuilt (a trade up) at a shop in the area. That price was $1500.00.

In a local mag. there was a 2000 model for $1800 but they went quick.

I will continue to look for around for a later model if this one doesn't work out.

Thanks again,
Beck

 

[Kevin W]

Re: early 80's 70 hp Johnson opinions

generally shop prices are higher than private sale for a number of reasons: Overhead, Warranty, professionaly gone through.
Not saying $1k is a bad price but its not a steal either.

 

[dakotarmx]

Re: early 80's 70 hp Johnson opinions

good motor i have a 1987 70 hp tough motor .no complaints.

 

[jtexas]

Re: early 80's 70 hp Johnson opinions

sorry I don't have much frame of reference as to price, but check out www.nadaguides.com - like Kevin said under $300 for that vintage, but it also says values for motors in exceptional condition are significantly higher.

If compression is equal on all three, good strong spark, starts with a bump of the key, and visually everthing looks good. I'm no expert, but I would fully expect that engine to be serviceable for a good long time. Still $1,000 sounds like a stretch especially without a sea test.

For a point of reference, as of last Sunday, compression on my 1979 (never-rebuilt powerhead) is 125-125-130.

 

[AlanR]

Re: early 80's 70 hp Johnson opinions

Nice motor and Not a bad price

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: early 80's 70 hp Johnson opinions

I'm sure the location has something to do with the price, although I don't think it's out of line by much if in good shape. I'm a big fan of the Johnson/Evinrude tripples....

 

[imported_beck]

Re: early 80's 70 hp Johnson opinions

Thanks for the info. guys

Even though my post #'s are low I have been reading the post for years now, my how time flys. But for some reason I couldn't access the forum to post with my old p/w and had to make a new account. Anyway thanks again.

Beck