62 Johnson 5.5

[klicknative]

I just bought a '62 5.5 Johnny for $75.00 off Craigslist and I've got a few questions. First off, some background; The guy I got it from didn't know a lot about it, it was his grandfather's and he didn't have a use for it. He did say it hadn't been ran for 10+ years but the gas was drained after the last time it was used. So yesterday after checking the spark, changing the LU oil and genrally checking things over I put her in the test tank. Once I got fuel (24:1) up to the carb I started cranking. After a lot of pulls and a little carb tinkering on the mixtures she fired up! And started peeing water! Hot damn! Once it warmed up a little and settled down I was able to fine tune the carb and she runs nice, real nice. However, while I was letting it run at a high idle to see if it would load up at trolling speed, it stoped peeing. End of testing and tuning for the day. Now for the questions...

1) I see it's time for a new impeller. I know to get the shift linkage apart the powerhead has to come off. Do I need to take the bracket off the exaust housing to get at any bolts/screws? Also what kind of seal or gasket is under the powerhead? I'm not real fond of RTV silicone but if the seal is not reuseable is that OK to seal it back up?

2) When it was running and pumping water, the discharge water was "luke warm", maybe 85* to 90*F. The powerhead was only warm so I'm thinking a stuck open thermostat. The discharge water is like hot tap water on my 40HP Lark. I have an infared thermomiter so is 140*F about right?

3) I have a broken shift lever. It must have been something that happened in storage or handling because it shifts smooth and easy. Is this a common part that will interchange with a lot of other OMC motors? For the time being I'm going to use some flat bar to get it going but I want to replace it with the right part.

4) There are a couple of small parts missing on the outside of the carb. First for the low speed jet there is a link that goes from the knob to the needle that's missing. The previous owner had some coat hanger wire that didn't allow enough travel to adjust the mix right. A sharp pair of dykes took care of that so now I need to build something like what it was built with. I'm thinking it was "J" or "C" shaped to yield apx 270* of travel. Anybody have a pic or mesurements to post? Also, looking at a cutaway drawing in a brochure on the old OMC site it looks like there was a screen on the inlet side of the carb, mounted with screws and spacers. A photo of that would be helpfull too.

Thanks in advance guys.

 

[grid]

Re: 62 Johnson 5.5

You can get most of the antique parts you need from SEAWAY Marine in Seattle WA. I was thinking the '62 linkage came apart where the lower unit drops, but maybe that was '63 and newer. That's the trouble with age...

 

[klicknative]

Re: 62 Johnson 5.5

I know about SeaWay, good outfit and highly recomended. Here in Goldendale I can get my parts overnite. Heck I'm on a first name basis with them. Hoping to save a buck ot two.

 

[F_R]

Re: 62 Johnson 5.5

Powerhead has to come off to undo the shift rod. Just buy a new 306205 powerhead gasket and be done with it. Also get a new 303355 gasket and 303347 o-ring for the carbon seal assembly. You will see what I'm talking about when you get in there.

You can test the thermostat in hot water.

The shift levers are all pretty much the same on the inner end. There are all sorts of shapes for the outer end to comform to the shapes of the various hoods.

The plates on the carb are only silencers. It will work fine without them, but sound a bit different.

Sorry, I can't help with the details of the link rod.

 

[klicknative]

Re: 62 Johnson 5.5

Thanks for the part #'s. So are there any bolts hidden under the handle or is it just the ones I can see to get the powerhead off?

 

[klicknative]

Re: 62 Johnson 5.5

Oh, BTW, I have a new Sierra thermostat and impeller on the way.

 

[F_R]

Re: 62 Johnson 5.5

As I seem to remember there are 7 screws. Maybe 6? One or two are a tad longer than the others. The two forward-most ones are kind of up in there, but accessable without removing anything.

 

[klicknative]

Re: 62 Johnson 5.5

That's what I was wondering if the bracket or handle had to come off first.

 

[F_R]

Re: 62 Johnson 5.5

Actually, even if you wanted to, I don't think you could get the handle off without first pulling the powerhead. I'd have to take a close look to decide if that's a fact. Anyway, 'taint necessary

 

[klicknative]

Re: 62 Johnson 5.5

The handle is on the part of the bracket that's attatched to the exaust housing thru the rubber mounts. I realy don't want to put a wrench on a set of 45 year old mounts that still look good.

 

[F_R]

Re: 62 Johnson 5.5

Whatever, as I said it does not have to come off. That is a guarantee.

 

[klicknative]

Re: 62 Johnson 5.5

The reason I'm worried about it is that the screws may not want to come out. It's been apart before (the screws I can see don't all match each other) and I'm thinking I may need to use an impact driver to get it apart. The powerhead is going back on with new socket head screws and never sieze.