Re: Lower end grease for 1956 Johnson...
Steve,
Don't overwhelm yourself! Yes, you will. BUT, on your motor, there will be a little oval cover about 2 inches long in the midsection of your motor, so you wont' have to take the powerhead off of yours. Just take the oval cover off, take out the bottom bolt (all the way!) on the shift rod connector, and then the lower unit to midsection bolts and the lower unit should easily come off. When it does, just set it to the side. You can change the lower unit oil, change the impeller (it WILL need it) that's set (hardened so the fins are no longer flexible), and reinstall it for the moment.
Now, check the compression. If it's over 80 lbs. it's worth fixing. If your compression gauge doesn't read 80Psi or more after pulling the recoil starter until it won't go any higher with both spark plugs out, then check your tester on a friend's motor of known compression.
After compression checks out good, redo your ignition with all new parts and plug wires---coils, condensers, points, plug wires. Then, take off your carb. and clean it, put a new carb kit and replace the cork float with a Bombardier plastic on, and replace all fuel lines.
Then run your motor with the lower unit on it to check for water flow. You should be able to idle it at any idle speed for as long as you want and still be able to hold your finger on the cylinder heads/block for 3 seconds easily without it burning you or making you want to get loose.
Then, run it on the boat and make sure it will hold gear without jumping out at wide open throttle. If it does it, you won't have any doubt---you'll think you hit a stump. When reinstalling lower unit, make SURE the groove in the shift shaft is lined up with the bolt hole properly or you will ruin your connector bolt.
This sound totally overwhelming as I mentioned before but it's not hard at all if you go slow and do ONE THING AT A TIME.
JBJ
