David, it wouldn’t have been painted.
Your gas tank would have been polished.
While this is contradictory to what many
believe here is some evidence to support
this.
What we call decals were actually
“Transfers”. Using a water slid or vinyl
decal wouldn’t matter as neither is what
was used originally.
These tanks are 2 pieces welded together.
You can see the seam in parts of the tank
where is doesn’t show but not where it
does or where the transfer is applied.
How did the happen?
When I have removed what remained of an
original transfer the tank is always polished
underneath.
Also the instructions for applying a transfer
in an early Johnson manual starts with
polishing the tank before replacing the
transfer.
Here are the instructions from a Johnson
manual and some examples I have found
when removing transfers that weren’t good
enough to preserve.
I don’t know when Johnson quit polishing
the gas tank but from my experience they
did well into the 30’s.
It’s your motor now so you get to decide
what would be best for it, what ever that
should be.
Tubs
.
A "Boathouse Repair" is one thats done without having tools or the skills to do it properly.
