It's the "buying season" over here right now as hundreds of desperate men are being nagged by the wife to get rid of the stuff that's cluttering up the garage so that they can get both cars in for the winter. Also, tons of boats going up for sale at dirt cheap prices so the current owners don't have to store them.

[Begin gloat]

So I couldn't stop myself when I saw the advert. 1983 Johnson 7.5 HP outboard. Used to be grandpa's, seller never got around to using it, now wife says get rid of it. First $250 takes it. I jumped on it like an alligator on a poodle. The catch was that there was no fuel tank and the sell hadn't had it running in 10 years. But I figured I'd take a chance if the seller would take $200. Which he eagerly did, probably because his wife was standing behind him boring holes in the back of his head with her "get rid of it now" laser-beam eyes.

Got it home, clamped it on the garbage can that I keep as a test tank. Hooked up a fuel tank. Off she went in 3 pulls and it runs like a watch. I needed to unclog the indicator stream jet because it was just dribbling and I gave her new spark plugs. A good pressure washing got rid of the grime, and now it looks great and runs great. Put her on a friend's john boat that he keeps at his dock, gave it the old Italian tuneup around the lake twice and it's the sweetest motor and it trolls down to a painfully slow speed, gives up very little in terms of speed to a 9.9.

[/Gloat]

There is a purpose to this post beyond the gloat, however. It just confirms again how durable the outboards were back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. These old-school 2-stroke outboards are trash-talked by some who prefer 4-strokes. That's all well and good if you can afford 4 stroke prices, you want to put up with the maintenance hassles, AND your boat and back can handle the massive weight gain.

But if you want something reliable, light, and powerful, there is still nothing that can beat these old-school 2 strokes. Even when neglected, a little TLC brings them right back. Try sitting a 4 stroke in a dusty corner of the shed for 10 years and then starting it in 3 pulls! Not going to happen.

IME, most outboards suffer from LACK of use far more often than the suffer from being worn out from too much use. Often you see buying advice that focuses on how to spot a motor that's worn out of damaged, but it also helps to spot the signs of too little use and know what to do about them.

1. When I removed the plugs to inspect them before I bought the outboard, they were dry and appeared to be covered with a film of dried grease. That's 2 stroke oil that has dried out from lack of use. Don't bother trying to save them, just replace and regap. Don't forget a dab of AS Compound on the threads.

2. There is every chance that you will have to de-gunk the carb on any outboard that hasn't been run in the past year. Very few owners do the proper procedure of running them dry before storage, so the gas in the carb evaps and leaves a thick oil goo. I had all my tools and my carb cleaner ready, fully expecting to have to do it on the 7.5, it was pure luck that I didn't have to. Top Tip: This is not as difficult as it sounds and there are several great YouTube videos that show how to DIY it.

3. The lower unit gear oil will be bad and will need changing no matter what.

4. Run the outboard in a test tank and CAREFULLY watch the indicator stream to be sure it's pumping water. Stop IMMEDIATELY if it doesn't pump after a minute of run time. The water pump could be bad or the impeller is stuck or damaged or the system is clogged with mud.

5. Pony up for semi or full synthetic 2 stroke oil, do NOT overmix, and run five star fuel. My 2 strokes absolutely LOVE Penzoil XLF semi-synth oil. It is almost smoke-free and leaves very little residue. Best of all, it's $15 a gallon on sale at Walmart. And don't freaking overmix it! Gawd! it just kills me the guys that have to throw in "an extra splash" of oil just for "extra protection". And then they wonder why their plugs are always fowled and they can't idle. Dammit, just mix it at 50:1 and leave it alone. Your outboard will thank you and so will I for not being able to smell your outboard from a mile away.

Grouse

If I had the room I'd be collecting Seagull engines. Bought one last year for £60 and took it up to my Dad's boat in Scotland and even though it's made in 1976 and hadn't been run in years it started up 4th or 5th pull and didn't let us down once.

It's a bit messy sometimes but it's light, sounds great and there's less to go wrong with it


Stuart

Interestingly enough, there's a Seagull that's been bouncing on the local Craigslist for months.

I must confess that for a long time I mistakenly believed that the British Seagull outboards were the same as the crappy Seagull-badged ouboards sold in the 1970s by a department store over here. In fact, the British Seagull outboards are almost works of mechanical art from back in the day when the mechanicals were something to be admired, not hidden under layer upon layer of plastic. Certainly worthy of being collected.

But I'm with you, sadly I don't have room, so after the aquisition of the 7.5 HP, the 1985 4 HP Johnson (short shaft) has to go on the block to make room.

If anybody's in the market for the above outboard in very good condition, do get in touch. Yours for $450 + shipping.

Grouse

Thanks Grouse, very interesting.

Just my two cents having witnessed this and heard of it happening else where.
When running an engine in a tub in your garage, unless the fumes are well ventilated they tend to build up in the tub and then can be ignited by the plugs. I witnessed this first hand while working on an old 5hp in a bin that was outdoors. Great craic altogether

I would think the outboard would have to be running incredibly rich and in order to blow enough raw fuel out the exhaust such that it would ignite. Did you have one dead cylinder on that outboard so it was blowing all the fuel from that jug out the exhaust port on every stroke?

It's a good tip, I'm just having trouble thinking what could have been wrong that it happened?

Grouse

Great post Grouse,With some excellent advice.I have a Johnstone 4HP twin.needs a new impeller just now but still runs sweetly 40 years old.I also have a Silver century Seagull, 45 years old and it starts 1st or 2nd pull every time.A real Dinosaur.but I love it's classic engineering.It was 10-1 mix but I got the 25-1 conversion.

Jim

__________________
The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

Thanks F G for the excellent"no bulldust" advice, i have a 9.9HP johnson and i was advised NOT to change it for a 4 stroke...your sound advice has settled it for me ..Thanks..J

__________________
Instead of improving im getting better!

The principle advantages I can see in a 4 stroke is the fuel economy and the ability of even larger 4 strokes to troll down and run at very low speeds.

But for most angling uses, I think the advantages of a 4 stroke are somewhat oversold. It is true that the carbed two stroke engines are thirsty, but for most anglers this is not really a concern unless you do a lot of open-water running going to and from the fishing.

I do plan to replace my bigger (>30 HP) outboards with 4 strokes eventually because that's what I use for fast running and that's where all the fuel goes. On Canadian trips I go on, it's not uncommon to burn 5-10 gallons of fuel per day with a carbed 2 stroke. That gets to be a drag, hauling around enough fuel for a week's worth of fishing. By contrast, a friend has a 50 HP Yamaha and we fished for a week on 15 gallons. Wow.

But for low speed trolling ability is nice, but again for smaller outboards <15 HP even an older 2-stroke that is well tuned up will troll down very well. The advantage of a 4 stroke only really comes into play if you want to make a 25-50 HP outboard troll down. No doubt, then the 4 strokes in that HP class will do a better job.

But the downside that the 4 strokes have yet to get around is the weight. A 4 stroke is 20 to 40% heavier than a 2 stroke. That's a big difference for smaller boat owners. Also, your boat's transom has to be built to take that kind of weight, and of course many older boats weren't designed for outboards this heavy.

There's also the maintenance. There is simply much more to go wrong with 4 stokes and of course they have the additional need for oil and filter changes.

Basically, I don't think there's any rush to abandon the older two stokes for most angling uses. I regularly see 40+ year old outboards that are perfectly reliable and are in regular use. Once solid state ignition became standard in the late 1970s or early 80s, the reliability and longevity of these outboards went from good to almost bullet-proof. There's just so little that can go wrong and what does is generally caused by simple neglect is often easily fixed.

Grouse

I have a 2 stroke 8hp Yamaha 20+ years old and going bril. Thought about changing it to a 4 stroke. The agent for Yamaha told me in no uncertain terms not to change it.
My friend has a 4 stroke 15 hp Mariner. He is a strong fellow. It takes 2 people to put the engine safely on the boat.
Think I will stay with the Yamaha.