1986 johnson 15hp head swap

[sahendo]

I have a 1986 15hp johnson, J15ELCDE. I'm looking for a cylinder head, my part# is 329917. -----I wanted to know if anyone has swapped theirs out with a different head, or if there were any other ones that would fit it?------- The older ones look similar, but didn't know for sure if they would work or not. -------Any ideas or suggestions?----Someone said up to 92 would work. ----- The owner before me didn't tell me about the stripped plug hole on the motor. It was running a little rough so went to change the plugs and clean the carb. When I backed the one plug out the heli-coil came with it. And I don't think the heli-coil was installed properly, once I took the plug out I could see carbon around the base of the plug, like the cylinder was leaking.------ So I figured just get another cylinder head. --------So basically what I need to know is any 9.9 or 15 cylinder head from early 80's to 92 should work?------ I seen on the early ones, the dome of the cylinders were shaped a little different.----Any help or advice would really help!

 

[sahendo]

Here's what I found, basically it looks like any cylinder head from 74-92 would work. The earlier ones 74-76 have a 7 bolt thermostat cover, the mid years 77-86 have a 8 bolt thermostat cover and the cover is notched around the spark plug holes, the later years 87-92 have a thermostat that is easier to service but you may have to do a little work to get everything to line up. And you cannot use your old engine cover cause the thermostat sits too high and the cover will hit. Found it on leeroysramblings.com. Thanks for all the advice and help.