70's/80's Evinrude 2 hp OB - Worth fixing?

[Madehn]

we had one of those for years and used and abused it doing a lot of river fishing- it tended to overheat pushing the jon boat upriver against the current running at wide open for long periods of time but i suspect that the water pump ran a lot of sand thru it as well- outside of that it was a dependable little beast and not hard to work on- if you have to take the head off you are going to run into issues with the corrosion mentioned earlier but other than that should not be too hard-- the starter rope thing is a PITA but i can remember rebuilding it a couple of times as a 14 yr old without a manual so it couldnt have been that hard. my vote would be to have a crack at it as a fun project and if you get to where you are going to have to put over $200 bucks in then stop.

[prof_mariner]

Does anyone know where on the motor I might find the model number or year?

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by prof_mariner

Does anyone know where on the motor I might find the model number or year?

As a guess, on the part of the lower casting that mates to the leg?

[prof_mariner]

Originally Posted by Cadence

As a guess, on the part of the lower casting that mates to the leg?

No such luck. Gave it a thorough look and didn't find any model, serial or other markings.

[Jammer]

I have two 3 HP Johnson engines from the 1950s and 1960s. Parts are still available. The later 2 HP ones are roughly similar.


Most of the service parts are readily available but there tend to be gaps. Typically the parts cost to overhaul the carburetor and water pump, and replace the ignition system, is around $200-$300. I'm not as familiar with the 2hp 1970s motors in particular, but the general things to watch are rubber mounts, the skeg, and generally any missing or broken controls or external pieces.

Originally Posted by OldManMirage

I have the same engine, and I'm rebuilding mine.

Try www.maxrules.com

The guy has a great website loaded with parts for old outboards like this.

I had a bad experience with delays and carburetor kits that were missing parts. Although they have a good web site, they keep limited hours and, as far as I was able to determine, have a total of two employees (or owners or partners or whatever).



I would instead recommend any of:
- Marineengine.com - OEM and aftermarket

- Crowley marine - OEM only

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by prof_mariner

No such luck. Gave it a thorough look and didn't find any model, serial or other markings.

There is usually a tag near the tiller. Perhaps it's gone missing.


If you match up the motor you have with the drawings on marineengine.com you should be able to get close. I could be mistaken but I believe that there was only ever really one Johnson/Evenrude 2hp design with mostly just cosmetic changes over the years.

[prof_mariner]

Originally Posted by Jammer

There is usually a tag near the tiller. Perhaps it's gone missing.


If you match up the motor you have with the drawings on marineengine.com you should be able to get close. I could be mistaken but I believe that there was only ever really one Johnson/Evenrude 2hp design with mostly just cosmetic changes over the years.

Yes, the tag is missing. I matched the motor with the drawings (as you suggested) and it looks to be a 1981 model.

I gave it a pretty good look today. It looks 100% complete, no missing or broken pieces (except a lock washer on the screw that holds the pull cord recoil spring assembly to the top cover). Put a little bit of gas in the tank, gave it a dozen or so pulls and nothing. I pulled the spark plug and it was dry, no sign of gas. So my first guess is that the carburetor may need to be cleaned or rebuilt. Can't tell if the spark plug is sparking. I may try to spray some WD-40 in the cylinder and give it a pull to see if that works.

Rough guess is that it will cost $150-$200 to buy all the parts I need to rebuild the motor. I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge, but I love how lightweight this motor is!

[gjordan]

If you are not sure of the spark you can lick your fingers and hold the wire, or the more sensible thing is a Harbor Freight in-line spark plug indicator (probably a different name) that you remove the wire from the plug and put the indicator on the plug, hook the spark plug wire to the end wire of the indicator and crank/pull the engine thru. It is a very handy tool and I think it was less than $10. A good addition to any tool box if you own a gasoline engine. _____Grant.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by gjordan

If you are not sure of the spark you can lick your fingers and hold the wire, or the more sensible thing is a Harbor Freight in-line spark plug indicator (probably a different name) that you remove the wire from the plug and put the indicator on the plug, hook the spark plug wire to the end wire of the indicator and crank/pull the engine thru. It is a very handy tool and I think it was less than $10. A good addition to any tool box if you own a gasoline engine. _____Grant.

A spark plug grounded will do the same thing. Watch the gap.

[prof_mariner]

Yup, an in line spark checker is on my shopping list.

I spent some time the other day on the motor. Lubed the pull cord assembly so it works properly now, poured some gas in the tank, gave it a dozen or so pulls, nothing. Pulled the plug it was dry. Gave the cylinder a sniff and didn't smell gas. I'm thinking the carb or fuel system is plugged.

[liquidice]

I’m in love with starting old outboards. Now I sell them on craigslist. These omc motors are very well made, almost all metal parts. As mentioned above, the lessons to be learned are priceless. Also, it is very satisfying to resurrect an old motor. And these Johnson/Evinrude motors from the 60s through early 90s are all very similar, simple, and reliable once you really “grok” how they work. I’ve always gotten parts from Ebay or gotten parts motors from Craiglist or estate sales.
One of the sites I found that really helped me get going is called leeroys ramblings. I am posting a link.
http://www.leeroysramblings.com/starting-old-motors.htm
He writes a lot and is very thorough. There are some great resources on YouTube also.