1957 johnson 18hp

[ccarver]

a guy wants to sell a 1957 johnson 18hp he said minor tuneup would be needed.. i doubt that... he showed it to me under a bunch of junk ... how much would this motor be worth, the model number is FD-11k

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[freddyray21]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

18's can be real good runners but it's worth what you will pay. From the looks of it new coils, carb kit and impeller may be all it needs. I rarely give over 50 dollars for one I don't know will run, but for a good 18 a bit more.

 

[ccarver]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

so offer what? like $60 -$80?

 

[wbeaton]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

How much is he asking? If its complete its worth $100-150. Although I wouldn't pay more than $100 for it I also wouldn't sell it for less. IMO

 

[freddyray21]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

100 is what I was thinking for it if it's all there. I like the 18's though and there seems to be less of them on the market. I personally wouldn't give more as I have bought them for that and less. If if is a good runner ready for the boat with nothing needed it would probably only bring 300 tops here maybe 350 on a good day. If you have to put complete ignition, impeller, carb kit and lu seal you will have that much in it at a 100 dollar starting price.

 

[ccarver]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

haha you guys wont belive this.. he first said.. $280.. then hes like wait... no $290.. wait.. $300 .. yea.. ill sell it for $300!!!... im like are you willing to talk the price down like.. idk ALOT.. and hes like nope.. 300 strong.. the gas tanks are so rare for it.. thats why its worth so much .. i just laughed and walked out..

 

[jbjennings]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

Just looking....
It's got an evinrude tiller on it from a newer year---ugly....
It's got a darned "whale tail" on the lower unit (I HATE them).....ugly...
Anybody that has one obviously has bad taste!
I'm with everyone else, 100 bucks top dollar.....with a tank and good hose/connector, a little more. Expect to work on it. Probably impeller, coil or two, carb cleaning/new float, and worst case---slipping lower unit.
As far as '57 18's go, it's not the nicest I've seen but you never know what you've got until you check compression and see if the lower will hold gear on the lake.
Good luck,
JBJ

 

[mchin]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

I have been given them and I have paid up 80 bucks for them. There are tons of these around, they run great and are easy to work on. They also share parts over several years, so getting general parts is easy. The bad side is if there is a compression issue, then it'll be cheaper to find another motor then to try to bore out this one. Also this motor looks to me parted together from several different motors, which isn't always a bad thing, but it could mean that there is more to learn about this particular motor. Also, I'm not seeing the fuel fitting which is usually visible on the tiller side of the motor, ya might wanna look at that as I had an 18 that was re-fitted with a yammi fuel fitting.

I'd check the compression, I think it should be within 5 lbs of each other.

I'd offer 100 bucks or less.

good luck and tell us what you decide to do.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

I pay $50-$80 for em up here on the average. And good call on the fuel fitting... it's not there... I'd open up the hood to be sure everything else is in there, maybe more is missing. Tanks are easy to come by also.

 

[jbjennings]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

$300?????
Shoot, I'd have turned around and took off as well. HE won't get 300 from anyone but an idiot for that motor. It's not even completely original! some folks just want more than something is worth. nothin' wrong with it, but that motor wouldn't come to my house for that price.
JMO,
JBJ

 

[ccarver]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

well i did pull the rip cord.. to test the compression..it had good compresion i could hear it... haha... but yea.. now thinking about it.. it didnt have a fuel line connection.. at least one i didnt see... i wish i could talk to him about this... but i told him i researched it online and found out its only worth 100 - 120 max... and hes like well you better go find one online then.. i was pretty much kicked out of his store...so im like fine ill go fine one jsut like that.. cheap price.. bring my boat by.. and be like ohhh look at this NICE 1957 johnson moter i got .. yea .. its great.. cheap too! hahahahha im gonna be a **** about it

 

[jbjennings]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

Carver,
If you wanted to have some real fun you should have went through the following routine....
1. Does the merc run? answer: I'm not sure, it run when I layed it up...
the truth: HECK NO! Back when it was running it
took 400 pulls to crank it!
2. How much do you want for it? answer: the fun part

3. what kind of warranty will you give me?
answer: no warranty on used motors.
What he's thinking: HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!
Sorry,
Too much imagination on my part.
they're not that hard to find, you'll find one. AWESOME motors! Here's a couple of mine.

 

[ccarver]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

thats bad ***.. but i want a working old motor.. lol.. i like the set up .. that would look sweet in my house.. wife would probly be pissy about it.. but what ever lol ... if i did find one.. should i fix it up all pretty? or make it into a boat motor?

 

[Sea18Horse]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

Those are too purdy! you need to tie those on to the back of the truck and tow them down a gravel road for a few miles. Get a bit of a patina going.
I hope mine wind up looking half as nice.

Cheers.................Todd

 

[Sea18Horse]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

... if i did find one.. should i fix it up all pretty? or make it into a boat motor?

Well here are mine. I plan to do a full cosmetic restoration, hopefully on both this winter. But the 10 horse at least. I wouldn't worry about it at all except that the 18 horse was sprayed over with some kind of copper colored paint on the lower leg and stuff. Ugly. And I have a replacement hood for my 10 horse because the existing one is cracked and dented on one side. And the new hood is badly faded.

Once I do I'm not going to baby them at all. They'll get used, hopefully a lot. And since Mine go in the back of the pick-up for the ride there and back hopefully they'll develop a nice patina fairly quickly.

Cheers................Todd

 

[jbjennings]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

To be honest,
I have admired those old OMC's for many years, but now that I have all but two of my favorite motors in decent looking condition, I won't repaint any more of them. I still want a '54 10hp and a '56 johnson 15hp to fix up purdy.
But all the other motors I get in the future I'm going to leave like I got 'em.
I had a '68 chevelle malibu that I spent a couple of years fixing up and painted, rebuilt, welded on new panels, etc., all myself. It had factory a/c, powerglide, powersteering and only 53,000 original miles. I constantly worried about scratching it and finally sold it last year. It was just not that fun to drive because I was always stressed out about dinging it or scratching it or getting road tar on it, etc. Same way to an extent with my nice motors. I use my nice ones, but only in the winter when the water is cleaner and hate to get them oily and scratch the lower unit paint. If you use an outboard it's going to lose paint on the lower unit eventually around here because of friction on moss and such. I have also come to appreciate the looks of an old, faded motor that still runs like it did 50 years ago. I'm just going to mechanically "restore" mine from now on. But I am going to stick to buying ones that look decent, if I buy any more at all.
My suggestion is get a decent looking one, fix it right, and enjoy it for years to come without worrying about getting a scratch or getting it oily under the cowl. It's going to happen if you use it, and it's no fun if you don't use it. thanks for the compliment. I love to show them off and rarely get to.
I DO use all of them, however, and they crank on the first or second pull and run great! here's an example of a trip with my '57 last season.
JBJ

 

[56 rude]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

Have 2 of the 18 fastwins (57-58)one was free the other was 75 bucks,the 75 dollar one starts first pull,has all new ign parts and no lower unit leak.Both are all orginal never painted taken care of motors that run all day every day.Great little motors!Hoping to get a 1954 evinrude 25hp soon to play with also.Love the 50,s motors,their easy to work on and parts are really not to hard to find atall.

 

[wbeaton]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

...if I buy any more at all.

I read that 5 minutes ago and I'm still laughing!

Let the fella sit on that motor for awhile. When he gets tired of everyone rollings their eyes and leaving he'll either price it according to its value or pull it from the market. However, if he does find a buyer for it at $300 then at least you know that buyer deserved it more than you.

There are so many of those old motors around you will find another reasonably priced in no time.

 

[jbjennings]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

O.k.,
MAYBE one or two more, just if I REALLY need 'em!

Old OMC's are like lays tater chips, betcha can't buy just one!

But I actually haven't bought one in a while. DOn't let a '56 15 in driving range come up for less than 150, though!

I'm ashamed........:redface:
JBJ​

 

[cc67]

Re: 1957 johnson 18hp

Well, since I have one I better chime in. I paid more for this particular motor than any of my other ones. The old guy wanted $300 but I talked him down a bit and got the original gas tank and an extra female gas line fitting. For a metal hood motor this thing amazingly quiet and I didn't have to do a thing to it.

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