Re: To Buy Or Not To Buy 50 hp Johnson 71
There's nothing particular wrong with those motors. When the electric shift mechanisms are working they work well. I know we have a member on here who is running a '72 60 or 65 HP and he runs the hell out it doing search and rescue missions.
That would be me, and yes, I do run the heck out of my '72 65hp Johnson. The last SAR that I did for the USCG, involved running about 110 miles of shoreline looking for an unknown boat, after someone heard a "Mayday" on Channel 16. With the exception of a break for lunch at a local marina, I ran the boat continuously from early morning to a little before sunset. I had to deal with a range of water conditions from calm to fairly rough and only burned 30 gallons of fuel all day. Other than the couple that I interrupted "looking for something in the cuddy" of an anchored boat, it was an uneventful day. We eventually decided that the Mayday was unfounded and secured the search that evening. I never did figure out why you have to be nekked to find something in the cuddy, though!
Everyone has their own "fear threshold," when it comes to old motors. With respect to the hydro-electric motors, mine starts at the years that had battery/distributor/amplifier ignition. They are just not motors that I would fool with, because all just about all of the electrical and electronic components are NLA, and the ones that you can get, cost a fortune.
To me, the buy/no buy decision on a '71 or ''72 hydro-electric motor ('71 60hp is distributor, but yours is Mag CD) has to do with a few basic elements. First, what sort of shape is the motor in mechanically, is huge in the decision.. Mine had obviously been run very little, which was evidenced by a near complete lack of wear on the original paint anywhere. It also came from Waco, TX, so the "boating season" factor came into play, as did the fact that it was run in a fresh water lake for its entire life. The compression values were also close to new specs and very even.
Next on the list is gearbox condition and shift system condition. I think they go pretty much hand in hand, so I consider them together. One of the best statements that I can make about this, is one that I heard right here, from one of the more experienced guys - if the gearbox has been kept free of water and the lube has been changed regularly, the solenoids and shift system will last a very long time. The solenoids pretty much don't go bad unless they are subjected to water intrusion, or fried electrically for some other reason. The hydraulic mechanism also tends to work for a long time, if the fluid and gear box in general, are kept clean and free of contaminants, grit, etc.
The shift controls can be a tough issue, though, because the shift switches are NLA. That said, there are "work-arounds" for this problem. If you do a search on the topic, you'll find some threads here on what can be done to deal with a bad shift switch.
I'll also caution you to be very careful whenever you drop the gearbox to change an impeller. The wiring harness that runs down the mid-section to the gearbox, is NLA and the wires break easily, if you let the gearbox drop too far when you remove the last bolt.
You can also run into a need to replace some ignition components and charge system components, but the parts are available and not too nuts, price wise.
Lastly, acquisition cost is a factor because it is a determinant in how much of a gamble the buyer might be taking. I felt very good about the condition of the motor I bought and paid either $400 or $450 (I don't remember) for it. I was stupidly busy at the time, so I took it straight to my local OMC/BRP dealer and had them go through it. I ended up putting about $1,200 into it then for the basics - fuel pump, impeller, carb rebuild, rectifier, thermostat, tuneup, etc. Some months later, I also had to rebuild the ignition system, which I did myself. All in all, I ended up with a couple of grand in the motor, but an awful lot of it was labor for the dealer, on the first refurb.
I have now run this motor for over three years and will probably run it at least three more years. Considering that it will most likely still be running OK then, I'll probably get a few bucks for it in a private sale. Even with continuing maintenance, when you "do the numbers" on this purchase, its pretty hard to beat the value.
On your motor, the best advice that I can give you is to buy an OEM service manual immediately. Do it before you spend money on other stuff, because it is that important. Once you get the manual, read it about three times before you start tinkering. You be glad you did this.
Also, you can not time this motor on the muffs - you need some back pressure on the exhaust, so the motor has to be in the water. After you obtain and read the manual, you'll have a better feel for what you need to do.
Sorry for the length of this, but sometimes I get rolling on the keyboard and, well, here we are. Besides, I was just getting my fingernails dirty installing a helicoil in a '69 Johnson 6hp, so I needed to "chill a bit."
BTW, is it silly for a 50 something guy to say "chill?"
