So I'm in the middle of refurbishing a 1957 Johnson 35HP and I've done something silly. Up until a few days ago, I could tilt the motor up and down by hand. The tension on the tilt mechanism was such that it would pretty much stay wherever I put it until I pushed it back down to running position.
Last time we launched, I put the motor into reverse to back off the trailer and it kicked up out of the water. Remembering I'd seen a little metal lever under the front cowling that said "Lock" and "Release", it clicked that this was likely the tilt-lock. I lifted it up to the "Lock" position and was able to back off the trailer without further issue.
Now, however, I cannot figure out how to get the thing unlocked, and I cannot raise the motor. The lever is very close to the metal frame it sticks out of, so I have a hard time getting a good grip on it. Am I missing something here? Does it need to be pulled / pushed / pried to move into the "Release" position?
Last time we launched, I put the motor into reverse to back off the trailer and it kicked up out of the water. Remembering I'd seen a little metal lever under the front cowling that said "Lock" and "Release", it clicked that this was likely the tilt-lock. I lifted it up to the "Lock" position and was able to back off the trailer without further issue.
Now, however, I cannot figure out how to get the thing unlocked, and I cannot raise the motor. The lever is very close to the metal frame it sticks out of, so I have a hard time getting a good grip on it. Am I missing something here? Does it need to be pulled / pushed / pried to move into the "Release" position?
