1940 seahorse worth restoring?

[danny1978]

Hi, for starters I just want to say great site. I got an old seahore and can't pull the starter cord and one of the spark plugs is missing.I've read through these forums looking for an answer, the plugs are the ones where the wire screws to the cap of it, can these be still bought? cheers.

 

[JB]

Re: 1940 seahorse worth restoring?

Model number??

 

[danny1978]

Re: 1940 seahorse worth restoring?

Hi, its HDL39 it hasn't been started in about ten years, thanks.

 

[wbeaton]

Re: 1940 seahorse worth restoring?

1939 Johnson 2.5 hp long shaft. Its not rare and it'll never have much value. Still maybe worth restoring if its in good enough shape.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: 1940 seahorse worth restoring?

Hi, its HDL39 it hasn't been started in about ten years, thanks.

That looks like it's a 2.5 horse from 1939, HD-39. The L probably indicates it's a long shaft. None of my spark plug resources go back that far so I can't help you on that. There's a website devoted to motors of the vintage of yours. It's the Antique Outboard Motor Club, Inc., www.aomci.org. Scroll down and click on "Ask-A-Member" to get to their forums.

 

[JB]

Re: 1940 seahorse worth restoring?

That uses Champion J8C plugs, gapped at .030". The book says to use 24:1 fuel mix, but I think I would stick with the original 16:1 mix.

You might need to change the plug wire ends. I don't know that the J8C is supplied with the screw-off tips anymore.

Interesting little motor. Parts are probably going to be hard to find, but you might try www.tcoutboard.com. They seem to have everything ever made.

 

[danny1978]

Re: 1940 seahorse worth restoring?

Thanks for the replies, is there any kind of lock (neutral or whatever) that would be preventing the pull cord from being pulled, as it goes out freely about 5 inches and stops dead.Thanks again.

 

[F_R]

Re: 1940 seahorse worth restoring?

Thanks for the replies, is there any kind of lock (neutral or whatever) that would be preventing the pull cord from being pulled, as it goes out freely about 5 inches and stops dead.Thanks again.

Remove the recoil starter and see if you can turn the flywheel. It has to be either the recoil giving the problem, or the motor won't turn. Most likely the latter. No, there are no interlocks or other new-fangled safety gadgets on that old motor.