A strange thing happen on the way to the boat scrap yard...

gjonz

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 20, 2008
Messages
76
...or actually at the scrap yard.

I am finishing off the first of two 1956 Johnson 30hp outboards. Had them painted, and am reassembling them now. One was junked, but I was able to salvage it by finding the missing parts on AOMCI and here on the forum.

Today my wife and I decided to go get lunch, and on the way swing into the local boat scrap yard to look for whatever the mechanisim is that leads from the cam-follower roller to the recoil/flywheel...I think its and interlock of some kind.

I remembered seeing on old 1957 Golden Javelin laying dimantled in the weeds, but with 2 feet of snow on the ground and a thousand motors laying everywhere, any motors were hard to detect outside. The tech looked here and there for a motor we could scrap the part I need off.

No Dice!

So I wandered outside in the two feet of snow and finally located the Javelin that was frozen to the ground under a foot of snow. It was whole, except for the cowling and lower unit. Even seemed to have decent compression when I got it home.

The tech said it would cost 20 bucks for the part I wanted. In a moment of shear shock at the asking price, I heard a voice say..."I'll give you 50 bucks for the whole thing!"

The voice was me!:confused:

The tech went into the office and came back and said "You bought a motor! I'll even carry it to the truck for you.":eek:

Now the problem is, though there is really no other choice, is I have to scrap a motor that would be plain lovely if restored. But I'm not about to hunt around for a 57 Javelin hoodand lower unit. Especially since I'm restoring a 56 Javelin.;)

I just hate to scrap a motor. It's like peeing in a graveyard. It just ain't holy or something.:mad:

I need a 12 step program.:rolleyes:

Greg
 

Sea18Horse

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 1, 2008
Messages
626
Re: A strange thing happen on the way to the boat scrap yard...

Well, the first step is admitting you have a problem........Hehe. So what did the wife think of all this. I'm willing to bet there was eye rolling involved :) .

Cheers.................Todd
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: A strange thing happen on the way to the boat scrap yard...

yes it is a problem, but don't trash it, put the parts on ebay or aomci.
 

gjonz

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 20, 2008
Messages
76
Re: A strange thing happen on the way to the boat scrap yard...

Well, the first step is admitting you have a problem........Hehe. So what did the wife think of all this. I'm willing to bet there was eye rolling involved :) .

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

Rolling eyes, followed by "Whay did you do???":p

I guess I'll scrap out any good parts, like the starter, recoil, and anything else and offer the rest up in-line somewhere.

Greg
 

tmcalavy

Rear Admiral
Joined
Aug 29, 2001
Messages
4,005
Re: A strange thing happen on the way to the boat scrap yard...

Part it out and share the usable stuff with the rest of us old-iron dogs. But...you never know. I bought a junker 56 Evinrude Lark a summer or two ago as a parts horse for my 57 Big Twin project (now complete). Didn't have to scavenge any parts off the horse though so it's been sitting in the shop, in chunks. Got bored during the Christmas break...good weather=time in the shop...and dragged the Lark off the floor, put it back together and ran a compression test. Zounds! Further investigation led me to another restoration project...which should be finished by late spring/early summer. Check the javelin out carefully...a replacement cowl may not be that hard to find. Nice story and a good find...share your project with us via pics...we love eye candy on this site.
 

jbjennings

Captain
Joined
Jul 18, 2007
Messages
3,903
Re: A strange thing happen on the way to the boat scrap yard...

OOOOOHHHH!!! A wife that goes to the scrap yard with you? Did she actually get out of the truck? THose are hard to find... I'll have to add that one on my list of "prospective wife tests/checklist". Right behind helping you work on old junky outboards, i.e. hand me a wrench and keep your mouth shut!:eek:
I'm totally jealous, we don't have any scrapyards around here with old outboards laying around in the snow.:(
JBJ
 

wbeaton

Commander
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Messages
2,332
Re: A strange thing happen on the way to the boat scrap yard...

I wouldn't part it out. Hold onto it or sell it as is. Replacement cowls are not as hard to find as you think. Expensive, maybe. I saw one last fall for $100. Needed be be rechromed, but for a $150 total investment (your motor + cowl) I'd have taken it.

Parting it out will get you the same price for parts as a regular 1957 OMC. Only the cowl with trim and model number are worth more on a Javelin. If you do part it out consider holding onto the midsection including the steering bracket. This way you can still clone one in the future. JMO
 

tmcalavy

Rear Admiral
Joined
Aug 29, 2001
Messages
4,005
Re: A strange thing happen on the way to the boat scrap yard...

Hand me a wrench wench and quietly...I tried that once and wore a black eye for a while...she's got scrap, and still does 23 years later. But she puts up with my boats/dogs/outboards and other strays not of the female variety.

OOOOOHHHH!!! A wife that goes to the scrap yard with you? Did she actually get out of the truck? THose are hard to find... I'll have to add that one on my list of "prospective wife tests/checklist". Right behind helping you work on old junky outboards, i.e. hand me a wrench and keep your mouth shut!:eek:
I'm totally jealous, we don't have any scrapyards around here with old outboards laying around in the snow.:(
JBJ
 

TRenner

Cadet
Joined
Sep 28, 2008
Messages
13
Re: A strange thing happen on the way to the boat scrap yard...

Lucky you..I would go buy a lottery ticket
 

samo_ott

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jun 18, 2006
Messages
5,125
Re: A strange thing happen on the way to the boat scrap yard...

I'm with JBJ. That wife's a keeper!
 
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