'79 140 evinrude vs. '82 115 evinrude

[BF]

Hiya,

I'm considering 2 comparable boats.... both ~17' fiberglass bowriders. One has a '79 evinrude 140, the other an '82 johnson 115. I know there's no diff between johnson/evinrude, but what about the years? Did the ignition system change during these years? How about the 140's, are they OK, or are they tuned to the ragged edge and more tempermental than 115's?

Both claim to be in good mechanical shape... the 115 had the LU replaced a couple years ago. The 140 just got "service" and a clean bill of health from a local shop. (I have not yet found out what this really means).


Anyway, just wondering if there is a general consensus of whether an '82 is any more desirable than a '79... or whether the 140 is thought of as a "bad apple" among the V4s. (?) FWIW, I have a merc V6 150 hp, so I'm aware of some of the year issues with them... e.g. early V6's (like mine) had weak driveshafts... that changed around '~'84 or so.... I'm just less familiar with big johnyrudes (I have a 1/2 dozen small ones).

Thanks for your $.02

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: '79 140 evinrude vs. '82 115 evinrude

I am pretty sure the 140 originally came with what they called "high ring" pistons. These were prone to breaking at the top ring. Most have been replaced at this point, but if that one has never been rebuilt, then it may still have them.

Ignitions are pretty similar.

Performance-wise, not a huge difference unless you're running them on small, light runabouts. Engines are very similar with the primary difference being exhaust tuning which makes its presence most known at higher RPM.

Beyond that, go with whichever one appears to have been better taken care of...