Reply To: 1924 2hp BNL Johnson runs rough

[Monte NZ]

Thanks Joecb, you were certainly on the right track regarding  the condenser possibly being a problem.

Stanley, thanks very much for your reply. your comments from your experience have made  me feel a lot happier!

Thanks very much too Tubs for your  comments. As you can imagine, I’m very much looking forward to having some fun with it in the lake.

Regarding the series of dimples on the piston below the spark, I thought too, that the electrode on the plug was responsible, but when I measured the gap with my depth gauge there was still 3/8 inch gap below the plug and the only thing that I can think of, is that someone, many years back, accidently installed a long reach plug.

One modification I did, was to bore through the shaft so that I could use a split pin rather than the original setup of two nuts to hold the prop. When drilling I discovered that I was dealing with hardened stainless steel. Needless to say, it  took ages to drill the hole and I lost count of the number of times I had to sharpen the drill! I then made a brass prop nut as used on later motors, which I think looks better and is more practical.

One problem I forgot to mention, is that a few days after finishing the tank painting I noticed several paint  blisters pop up about half way up the back where the weld line is.

I discovered small pin holes which I thought must have occurred during manufacture. I  bored the holes with my Dremel and sealed them with JB Weld…….needless to say I was very pleased to find the holes before applying the tank decal!

I have provided a link to shots of the prop modification and the pinholes in the tank.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MZZ7eJq2Acp5QsBX8

https://photos.app.goo.gl/U6oHqXS1YmFKVG7c6

Thanks all of you for your help……much appreciated!

Monte NZ