1957 Johnson 35 Horse

[BanjoRed145]

I just picked up a 1960 Crestliner with a 35hp 1957 Johnson engine on it in unknown condition with a stuck throttle and shift lever. In my excitement to find out more about my new great find I decided to drain the lower unit to see what the fluid looked like. Having previously owned a 1962 Johnson 18hp I expected the drain to be on the side and not seeing the one on the bottom I accidentally pulled the pivot pin out.

Yes, I know, I'm an idiot. I even thought to myself "that's weird that they would use a phillips head on one plug and a flathead on the other." Now that I've screwed up I need to know how to fix it. My shop manual and several websites I have looked at since warn "do not pull out the pivot pin!" but they don't say what to do if you have.

Do I have to pull the whole lower unit off to fix this? Can I just pull off the bottom of the Skeg? Will all the gears fall out all over the place? Basically I am afraid of ripping everything apart and being in worse shape then I am now.

By the way......A little PB blaster on the shift lever and the throttle gears and both freed right up!!! Now I feel like I have a great project engine except for my idiocy. Any help offered would be great!

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

No, you don't have to pull it apart. All you need to do is get an awl and use it to center up the holes and you can slowly work the shifter back and forth to get the holes to line up. No biggie. It's a lot easier to do than most realize. After all, you have to put it all back together, in order to install that screw, during a rebuild anyhow. So don't beat yourself up about it. Apparently a lot of people here have made that mistake. It's okay brothah, crack a cold brew and get 'er done.

Great motor you have there, BTW. How did the oil look? You didn't say.

 

[KB1]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

Good eve!

Aw, come on now! Believe me, you ain't the first to do this and won't be the last. Don't beat yourself up!

Not idiocy! Over-zealous maybe. Main thing is "DON'T GET EXCITED". Yeah it's new to you and can't wait to do this, fix this, look at this.

If you haven't touched anything after pulling the screw out, chances are nothing moved and you can just put it back in and all is well. If you messed around w/motor doing other things before you figured out what you did, you just have a little more work to do. Know what? I learned a long time ago that when tomorrow comes light, that motor will still be there waiting for you to work on. Ain't got to be done in one day like all of corporate america would like you to believe. Don't believe it? See if they will come by and fix it for you!!!

 

[lindy46]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

The job is easier if you lay the motor on its' side, so you don't have gravity working against you. Shine a flashlight in the hole, and use an awl or icepick to move the shift mechanism around until the hole lines up. If you have no luck, you can try having someone gently move the shift lever ever so slightly while you look in the hole to try and line it back up. And while you're doing the job, replace the little o-ring/seal that goes on the pivot pin. I've had them leak and cause water intrusion.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

Yep, the last two posters just second my motion. I love it when good minds think like mine.

 

[BanjoRed145]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

Thanks a bunch for the advice! I did, in fact turn the prop over when the screw was out so the wholes are definitely out of place, I will try the awl trick and let you all know how it goes.

The fluid that I drained out of it looked really good! There was a little bit of water that came out but the gear lube looked pretty clean with no rust color or metal parts or anything. The recoil starter was off the engine in the bottom of the boat and isn't "recoiling" right now but I haven't pulled it apart yet.

Other then that the engine seems good and complete. A few of the hoses are dry-rotted and I will replace them but everything seems to be there and in working shape. Thanks for all the encouragement, I will let you know how it goes!

 

[samo_ott]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

As mentioned, it's not that hard to do and a very common mistake. Go slow and get an awl... It'll work as that's how it goes together in the first place And if you don't get it, place the engine on it's side, hole up. It'll work.

Some folks also grind a small pointed tip on the phillips screw so that it will go in easier.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

Okay, when you refill the gear case, use new gaskets on the plugs. This will determine, if water is coming in through the plugs or other areas. It sounds like your motor has been sitting, so the oil and water had separated.

 

[BanjoRed145]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

Thanks! I just went out and got the pin back in, it wasn't hard at all, I didn't even have to lay it down or anything.

Now for my next question........

It would appear that at some point the fuel connector on the engine was removed and instead there is a 12-volt fuel pump mounted in the boat which has a fuel line running through a regulator of some sort and hooking up directly to the fuel filter on the side of the engine. I'm assuming this was to avoid the pressurized tank system but I've never seen a set up like this before. Has anyone ever heard of this?

I'm planning on using this as a fishing boat so I'm not concerned with it being completely original, but I do want it to be safe. Are there fuel pumps designed for this purpose? What pressure should it be at? Is this okay for the engine? Basically any information regarding make-shift fuel systems would be great.

 

[bktheking]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

Post pics please, I gotta see this fuel pump rigging.

 

[BanjoRed145]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

Haha....sure. I'll take some tomorrow and post them.....It's a pretty spectacular redneck rig job

 

[BanjoRed145]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

Okay.....here are a few photos of the way that the fuel system is set up. The one photo is so you can see the placement of the pump in the boat in relation to the engine, one is a close up of the pump and regulator-looking thing on the line. You can see the electrical leads heading over to where the battery would be and the after the regulator the hose runs back through the front of the engine and connects to the fuel filter on the side of the engine which you can see in the close up photos of the side.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this?

 

[lindy46]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

Okay.....here are a few photos of the way that the fuel system is set up. The one photo is so you can see the placement of the pump in the boat in relation to the engine, one is a close up of the pump and regulator-looking thing on the line. You can see the electrical leads heading over to where the battery would be and the after the regulator the hose runs back through the front of the engine and connects to the fuel filter on the side of the engine which you can see in the close up photos of the side.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this?

http://s884.photobucket.com/home/markgerolami

Better check your pics. I went to your site to look at your pics and when I clicked on one of them, it downloaded a Trojan Horse to my computer. I just spent the last two hours removing the virus.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

yep, I just saw that myself. Fortunately site advisor stopped me.

 

[BanjoRed145]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

Sorry!!!! No idea what happened. I opened a photobucket account just to put them on this site and just copied the url they gave me for them. I tried to put them right in the thread but I guess they were too big and I didn't know how to resize them.

I removed the link from the thread so that nobody else has any problems with them and I will figure out a different way of posting them.

Again, I am SOOOO sorry that you had to go through that.

 

[BanjoRed145]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

I figured out how to resize the photos so I attached them here. It should be easier (and apparently safer) then linking to another site.

You should see where the fuel line is attached to the engine, the pump that was used, and it's location in relation to the engine. Again, the hose you see coming out of the silver box with the regulator on it is the same hose that you see connected to the fuel filter in the first photo. I also included one photo of the whole project boat just because

 

[Willyclay]

Re: 1957 Johnson 35 Horse

I'm assuming this was to avoid the pressurized tank system but I've never seen a set up like this before. I'm planning on using this as a fishing boat so I'm not concerned with it being completely original, but I do want it to be safe.

The safe way is to convert your motor to the later model, single-line suction system by installing a fuel pump that operates off crankcase pulses/vacuum. Then, the only pressurized fuel line is inside the motor cowling between the fuel pump and the carb. The link below should help. Good luck with that great old motor!

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=205628