JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

[jbjennings]

Just get on craigslist in sheveport if you want to see 'em in the boats section and got myself a pretty good deal-- a decent 14ft aluminum boat like I've been wanting, and a '57 johnson and '57 evinrude 7.5 hp for 400 bucks. My best friend just had his deal go through on his camp and hit me up for one of my small motors to put on a johnboat and leave out at his place so he doesn't have to use his new bass rig all the time, so they came at the perfect time to replace my good 'ol '55 7.5 evinrude that he's getting. His nephews will use the boat/motor too.
Anyway, the 2 new ones I got belonged to a guy's grandad that passed away and they were in good shape. The 'rude had 2 uncracked nice medallions on it. the johnson had a nice pull cord handle. Neither motor's l.u. had any breaks or cracks and ran after a few pulls, neither pumped water. I'm pleased overall. I'll have the johnson fixed tomorrow except for a lower unit reseal. Will wind up having about a 150 in each of them which I think is well worth it for a trustworthy motor. Got 2 tanks with 'em that were in rough shape but possibly fixable and had the hoses and connectors. Hoses were awful but connectors were good. Will post a few pics when I get them finished.
JBJ

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

the boat worth what you paid. good deal.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

Now that's a real twinky deal. Gotta post some pix though.

 

[wbeaton]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

Hell of a deal, JBJ. Better than the deals I usually get.

 

[jbjennings]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

Hey thanks guys. The more I tinker with 'em, the better they are. I got the johnson running nice and smooth today. It really idles and accelerates nice. All I did was clean the carb and change the impeller. The impeller was "set" some kind of bad! Works great, now. It probably needs a l.u. seal job but no biggy. The nice thing is, I haven't even done anything but check the compression on the evinrude yet and the paint is almost flawless on the powerhead. I don't think its ever been apart since the head bolts all have great paint. the prop is also flawless and the lower unit or nothing else has any paint chips off of it. the medallions are awesome, too. In my area, the stumpsl and stuff are so bad in the lakes that there is no way this can be true unless it's been taken extremely good care of or has low hours. Probably both. It's nice to get a good deal every once in a while. Compression on both was about 80 on all. Maybe a tad over 80 on the evinrude.
I'll post some pics hopefully tomorrow.
SOme folks may hate these old things and think they're junk but they amaze me at how long they run. I hope most folks keep thinking they're junk so I can continue to get 'em cheap.
JBJ

 

[jbjennings]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

UPDATE:

the '57 evinrude 7.5 has almost positively NEVER had a wrench on it. When I worked on it for about 45 min. tonight it had a badly set impeller. The l.u. oil was flawless, just looked used but not a hint of water. The prop is flawless. The carb had never been off the motor. A couple of strong indications on this. All powerhead hold-down screws had the orig. paint on them. Head bolts nearly perfect with no cracked paint. Paint nearly perfect with no scratches, just a place or two where heat and humidity had flaked the paint a little. It is really nice to work on a motor that noone else has jury-rigged or did a poor fix-it job on it. It does look like it has had some use but I suspect the impeller had never been changed and when it sat so long the impeller froze up the man just used the johnson. I may have to hang on this little evinude!
I'm liking this deal better and better,
JBJ

 

[wbeaton]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

What are you doing?! Show us a photo already! After all that, I feel I need to see the Fleetwin.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

Great find! I love the little 7.5s. First motor I ever rebuilt was a 1955 7.5 - a project with my Dad when I was about 13. I picked up a '58 this winter for $40.00 - wouldn't turn over. I thought it had probably tossed a rod, but when I pulled the powerhead it turned freely with compression! Turns out the lower unit was full of water and the gears had rusted up. I assembled another unit from parts and voila! Running motor!
- Scott

 

[jbjennings]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

Well, I tested the johnson today on my old boat. It ran very nice! Very smooth and low idle like I prefer. Starts great as all johnsons should. The exhaust water was a little hotter than I would like when putting my hand in it. I replaced the impeller and it seems to put plenty of water out, but still feels warm. I wonder if I should take the head off and clean out all the passages so the flow is better. Or could it be a water pump housing? Or do I just worry too much....
Anyway, it needs a lower unit reseal which I am going to do.
The darned thing does look rough as far as paint and scratches, but no dents or parts broken or missing other than the front medallion.

I would post the evinrude pics but I've got it apart waiting on gaskets. It is nothing special on looks but is complete and has great medallions and not many scratches. I took the head off and the cylinders are flawless. It was fairly nasty in the water jackets but I didn't see where anything was completely stopped up so no water would come out which was what I saw after changing the impeller.
Later,
JBJ

 

[wbeaton]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

Looks great to me. I like the look of a nicely aged outboard. I can't wait to get some time to repair my latest addition - 1958 Johnson 7.5 hp.

 

[GreatRiverDucker]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

Sorry to intrude on this thread, but does anybody have exploded diagrams for a '58 7.5. My buddy needs to rebuild his carb.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

Here's a pic of the '57 7 1/2 that I picked up last month...
- Scott

 

[jbjennings]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

Sorry to intrude on this thread, but does anybody have exploded diagrams for a '58 7.5. My buddy needs to rebuild his carb.

How dare you INTRUDE on my thread??? OF ALL THE DIRTY TRICKS!!!
Pm me your email address and the best I can do is a '56 or '57 exploded carb view. they should be very similar if not identical.. The '58 should be really simple, by the way, what is it he's worried about?
JBJ

 

[TN-25]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

Boy, all these old 7.5s are coming out of the woodwork. In addition to all of yours I saw one sell last week on e-Bay in Toronto for $450. It was supposedly a low hours motor and looked to be in very good original shape.

I just joined the 7.5 club myself with the purchase last Thursday of a '58 Johnson AD-12. It put out plenty of water and started right up. The fuel coupling on the tank leaks quite a bit though, and I was quite nervous with the spilled fuel while the seller had a smoke . It looks to be in the same shape cosmetically as the other posters here. It has some scratches all over but no dents. Also the medallion is long gone.

I think I should start with the fuel coupler and new lines, a carb cleaning or rebuilding, a full tune up, water pump replacement so that I know what shape it's in, plus a good inspection and resealing of the lower unit.

I know that nymarine.com sells the medallion plastic insert, but where can you ever find the cast metal frame? There is a place in eastern Ontario, Canada called Accu-Fab. They recast emblems, mainly for boats but also for cars. I wonder if enough people were interested that a run of medallion frames could be run? It of course would take an original to take a mold from, but they say that even a broken molding could still be used to make a mold to cast new ones from. Just a thought.

Cameron.

 

[wbeaton]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

Cameron, the emblem is entirely made of plastic. It is painted chrome and gold on the underside. Check eBay or post over at AOMCI for a used one. I saw one sell not long ago for under $20.

 

[TN-25]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

Thanks for the info, Wayne.

I see you are in Hamilton. My brother and sister both live there. We all grew up in Ancaster.

Maybe one day we can line up our 7?s and have the world's slowest race. I jest...

 

[wbeaton]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

Actually, I live in Ancaster. Get that 7.5 hp tuned up and I'll race ya.

Update on the 1958 Fleetwin I just picked up - worst lower unit seals I've ever seen. I filled the lube and it shot back at me as though there was not a seal in it. lol. Wish I had of bought two seal kits last week instead of one!

 

[samo_ott]

Re: JBJ scores a reasonable deal on twinkies

No seals? Hmmm... Dang.

So when am I gonna get a 7.5 with a shifter dammit. All I have is my 1950 7.5 with neutral on it! Send some of those deals my way!