I have an older Johnson I been trying to find the year and Hp The cover has Johnson 20 on it ? now i looked up the model # which is FDL12R And can only find the FDL12 and thats a 1958 18 Hp ? the serial # is J2829652 is this a 1958 18 HP motor ??
Match up the serial number on the nameplate with the one on the engine block. It should be on a silver plug near the spark plug end of the engine itself. That way, you know that the transom clamp hasn't been replaced and so the nameplate matches the rest of the engine.<br />The 20hp engine is basically the same as a 18hp engine, with some tuning to get the extra 2hp. So the cover from a 20 should fit an 18. Switched covers happens a lot with older engines; the original will get lost overboard, and a replacement will be picked from the local junkyard. As long as it fits.<br /><br />FDL12R is a '58 18hp model. The 20s are named FD(L)-20 through -22, between '66 and '68. In '69 they changed the model number scheme to something completly different.<br /><br />EDIT: I think I might have that backwards. There's no way a late '60s 20hp lid would fit a '58 18hp - they used a mechanically different hood back then. Check your transom clamp for evidence of repainting, or for the red paint they only used in the late '50s.<br /><br /> '58 18hp <br /> Check the catalogs here for the later 20hp engines
