'79 Johnson 75 HP. Good or bad motor?

[w103pcm]

I am thinking of buying a cheap 60's model 17' Starcraft with a 1979 75 HP Johnson outboard. I have seen it, it is in solid shape, I saw it float, and I saw it run briefly. The motor sounded half way decent. How are these old motors? Can you get parts and manuals? How are these boats? Does anyone have feedback on whether or not this would be a good starter boat? How about the amount and ease of maintenance it would take to get this guy working well. I would appreciate anyone that will let me pick their brain on this topic.

 

[DJ]

Re: '79 Johnson 75 HP. Good or bad motor?

PCM,<br /><br />Good boat, good engine.<br /><br />Do a compression check on the engine, before you buy.<br /><br />The cylinders should be over 100 psi and within 10% of each other.<br /><br />Parts (engine) are available. Manuals aare available here on iboats. See the lower left corner of the page.

 

[TinCanDo]

Re: '79 Johnson 75 HP. Good or bad motor?

I have a 1974 lund w/ 1974 70hp Johnson and i take it offshore. I trust it more then a lot of newer stuff!

 

[w103pcm]

Re: '79 Johnson 75 HP. Good or bad motor?

Great! Thank you all for the comments! For the price, I guess I shouldn't pass this one up!<br /><br />-Pat-

 

[w103pcm]

Re: '79 Johnson 75 HP. Good or bad motor?

Also...with this being an older engine, and parked for 2 years, what are some of the basic care steps I should take with it (both with getting it to run correctly right now, and as general maintenance). <br /><br />Also, how do I check the engine compression? If it is off, is that like a car in a sense that the motor needs it's heads replaced?

 

[whofan]

Re: '79 Johnson 75 HP. Good or bad motor?

Replace water pump for piece of mind and spark plugs cause theyre cheap.<br /> This motor was produced by OMC in varing hp configerations from 1968 through 2001 and is considered by many as one of the best motors of the time.

 

[w103pcm]

Re: '79 Johnson 75 HP. Good or bad motor?

I have heard some bad things about water pumps on these. All in all it sounds like the people that own these older motors really like them. I thank you all for the input! Does anyone have anything I should watch for?