Re: 1952- 58 Johnson or Evinrude 15/18 best years?

[wyo307]

I am just curious why for a 14ft boat are you looking at a 15-18hp motor not a 25-30hp? I have a 1952 14ft Larson that I am restoring right now and I plan to run a 1955 Johnson 25hp on it.

This motor had the same problem with the lower seal and it was very easy to pry the old one out and replace it with a new one I ordered off of wholesalemarine.com. I did the top seal at the same time just to be safe since I want this thing to be a runner for quite some time. I believe the seals were $8 and some change a piece. I also have a 1952 25hp Johnson that is a great runner but it doesn’t have electric start like my other one does so I don’t really want to use it on this boat.

Personally I prefer how the older green Johnsons look over the later red ones but that is just me. For me and my boat I think the green works better than the red, but the red still looks better on mine than the blue of the Evinrudes of the same era.

Just as a reference I just bought a 1955 Evinrude 15hp fastwin this week for $20. It is in complete condition although it has been painted the incorrect color at some point and it didn’t come with a tank. The normal tune up parts and this one should be good to go fishing in the spring.