Reply To: 1956 Johnson RDE-18E

[Harmattan1]

Don, I am glad you are a part of this community. I contacted the seller. He was good enough to let me decide to either return for refund or keep the motor and he would give me $200 back. After some thought, I decided to keep it, get the $200 refund, and do my best to get it done right. I have decent mechanical experience. Spent 20+ years as an offset printing pressman. I am handy with my tools overall and I can figure out a lot of things if I have the right info/tools/parts, etc. The thing that I lack is experience working on outboards. Ive done a good bit of work on my cars over the years. Nothing super serious like rebuilding the engines completely but many other things. As far as the painting, I just finished a stint working as a professional refinisher of kitchen cabinetry and hardwood flooring with a company called N Hance. Very top end work. A friend of mine has the powder blast tools that I can use to glass bead the parts down to bare metal and also the sprayers to apply the paints/finishes.
I think my biggest concern is getting the lower unit seals done right. That seems to me to be the biggest challenge at this point. The seller determined the need for the impeller/water pump replacement when he attempted to run the motor the first time and noticed it was not circulating water. So he hooked water supply into the internals and ran the motor just enough to see if it ran at all which it did but just briefly and enough to see if it would run at all.
I would be more than happy to connect by phone. My number is 540 419 8391. If you make contact, text me first and let me know who it is that is making contact and then I will answer when you call. I usually dont answer if I dont know who is trying to call. Thanks for the support and advice. It matters.

Tom