1958 or 59? 35hp johnson

[coolguy147]

ok well dont know if u guys remeber i worked on a 35hp johnson while back and still waiting for the guy to come back from his house in virginia!!!

well the model number on the plate saids its a 1958 35hp motor and it looks exactly like a 1959. the shift lever is like a 59 has a 59 cowl. its white. the trnasom bracket has the pin that keeps the motor tiltled up during travel or when moored. any more differences between the motors?

another question could there have been a mix up on the models numbers maybe? or is something just or weird any ideas?

 

[Sea18Horse]

Re: 1958 or 59? 35hp johnson

Huh, weird! 58 would be Holiday bronze and cream. The cowl cream with Holiday bronze trim. Opposite to the 57 scheme of bronze with cream trim. the 59 would be all warm white with gold. I suppose if someone were to replace the pan and everything a 58 could be converted to a 59 shroud but I can't imagine why someone would want to do that! You'd have to check to see if the serial # on the transom bracket matches the one on the freeze plug. Has the transom bracket been painted? And did they mask around the model # plate? Otherwise they would have had to remove the 58 number plate, paint it and then put the wrong plate back on. Weird, makes no sense does it? Unless some of the later 58s actually looked like 59s. :shrug:

I can't help with the difference between the two other than cosmetic.

.....................Todd

 

[coolguy147]

Re: 1958 or 59? 35hp johnson

u know it might be weird but i think i remember the serial numbers matching. ill have to go check again but y would this happen?


oh yeah this motor has a t stat and has 2 copper water tubes going from the pump to motor. not sure if the 58 model has this too?

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: 1958 or 59? 35hp johnson

Todd, I think you have a bit of a mix-up in your years. The white & gold Super Seahorse (with bucket cowling) was 1958, while the '59 SSH was all white with a little chrome & gold trim. There were TWO 35s in 1958, as the old style 35 (with clamshell cowling) carried over with the trim description you gave.

CG - if the serial number on the plate matches the number on the block, then go by the model number on the plate (which would be RDS-20 for 1958 or RDS-21 for 1959). It's possible someone simply swapped out the cowling to match a boat's year at some point... I've seen it done...

 

[coolguy147]

Re: 1958 or 59? 35hp johnson

man i havent seen chinewalker post in my threads in a long time


well ill check it out today but poursonally i rather have a 1959 motor though. for some reason i like it better?


i have a question if it does happen to be a 58 would the 59 be better in any ways like quieter?

but also the feature that u can tilt the motor up and lock it there isnt that on the 59 and not 58? mine has that

 

[coolguy147]

Re: 1958 or 59? 35hp johnson

also different question y does this motor have such a big flywheel y the 50hp and other models later on dont. i know it may be easier for the starter to turn cause of this like bike gears? easier idling? smoother acceration what?

 

[F_R]

Re: 1958 or 59? 35hp johnson

man i havent seen chinewalker post in my threads in a long time


well ill check it out today but poursonally i rather have a 1959 motor though. for some reason i like it better?


i have a question if it does happen to be a 58 would the 59 be better in any ways like quieter?

but also the feature that u can tilt the motor up and lock it there isnt that on the 59 and not 58? mine has that

As said, 1958 had two distinct 35hp motors. The holiday bronze & white carryover from previous years, and the new Super Sea Horse "Super Quiet" model. The holiday/white one had the old metal rear flip-up hood. The Super Quiet has a metal lift-off hood (Quite pretty too).

For 1959, the older style motor was dropped and all were the Super Quiet models. The 1959 had a fiberglass lift-off hood (Quite ugly too). Otherwise they are mostly alike. The tilt lock was improved in mid-year 1959 because the old ones broke often.

 

[coolguy147]

Re: 1958 or 59? 35hp johnson

ok well i checked the serial numbers today and they do match. so number wise it ssaids that its a 1958 motor. not on the outer cowling thats being held on by 8 philips head screws it saids super quiet on there. now it is the super quiet model by the way. but y would it have a 59 hood which i think is better prefer the fiberglass anyways i think its quieter.

again it has the tilt lock on this motor does the 58 have it?

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: 1958 or 59? 35hp johnson

Motor hoods get swapped for numerous reasons. Being that I've found a couple by the roadside over the years, I would guess a few have flown off while being trailered. Owner gets home and has no idea where it was lost, so they set about finding something that will keep the critters out. If something is close and works, they generally don't care if it's a year or two off.

The '58 had a tilt lock, but as noted, it wasn't very stout and tended to break easily.

 

[Sea18Horse]

Re: 1958 or 59? 35hp johnson

Oh yeah, I forgot about the 58 Super sea horse. When I mentioned white with gold I was thinking about the gold band around the top on the 59 style. The 58 Super sea horse does have unique styling. I can see it being a love it or hate it type of thing. I could easily see someone swapping out the cowlings at some point in its history.

As far as the tilt lock I can find no mention of it in the 57, 58 or 59 brochures so no help there. But from the way F_R describes it maybe the "big twins" always had the tilt lock but they were updated in 59 :shrug:

.............Todd

 

[coolguy147]

Re: 1958 or 59? 35hp johnson

Motor hoods get swapped for numerous reasons. Being that I've found a couple by the roadside over the years, I would guess a few have flown off while being trailered. Owner gets home and has no idea where it was lost, so they set about finding something that will keep the critters out. If something is close and works, they generally don't care if it's a year or two off.

The '58 had a tilt lock, but as noted, it wasn't very stout and tended to break easily.

ya i know the tilt lock is pretty bad since the one on hear was broken off.

ya this motor doesnt need it for some reason like it pretty hard to pull up weight? but it stays in place and is stiff of course if trailering always strapdown some how of course well guess its a 58 then least i have the 59 hood

 

[cougar1985]

Re: 1958 or 59? 35hp johnson

Motor hoods get swapped for numerous reasons. Being that I've found a couple by the roadside over the years, I would guess a few have flown off while being trailered. Owner gets home and has no idea where it was lost, so they set about finding something that will keep the critters out. If something is close and works, they generally don't care if it's a year or two off.

The '58 had a tilt lock, but as noted, it wasn't very stout and tended to break easily.

also you could be like me and like the 57 hood off of a 18 seahorse instead of the 58 hood and swap just for looks?so i got a 58 with the 57 hood because i like the bronze with white trim over the other way.