Mike from Atlanta
Regular Contributor
I recently bought a 1977 Johnson 25 hp outboard (model 25E77S) that is set up for remote throttle/shift/steering control and electric start. I actually responded to the seller's ad for a different motor (1973 Johnson 9.5 hp) but couldn't pass up a great deal on the 25 hp. I bought both outboards for $150 apiece. I've already finished getting the 9.5 up and running. Seems like a good little motor and it didn't appear to have many original hours on it. My question is...what to do with the 25 HP?
My situation:
I bought my first boat a little over a year ago (1987 Monarch 1448 aluminum flat bottom jon boat rated for 25 HP). Around the same time I bought a 1973 Johnson 20 HP rope start tiller in pretty bad shape (broken/repaired skeg, rattle can paint job, compression 99/102). With the help of this forum and contributors like Timguy, Joereeves, valvebounce fdrgator and others I gave it a major overhaul over the course of about 3 months and it has run well for me since then. Pushes my boat around 21 mph with 2 guys and fishing gear.
The 1977 25 HP:
I originally bought this outboard thinking I would rob the electric start components off of it and use them on the 20 HP, or take the tiller handle off of my 20 HP and use it on the 25HP. It was only after I got home and started doing research that I found out they went from the 22 cubic inch to 33 cubic inch in 1977 so the parts wouldn't be interchangeable. I started assessing the 25HP and realized it is in fairly good condition and probably a better motor to keep than my current 20 HP. Compression is 122/120. Turned over freely with great spark. No signs of water intrusion in the gear box when I drained the oil, no major cosmetic damage. It was a bit hard to start, but ran, idled, shifted and pumped water well without even cleaning the carb. I monitored the engine temp with an infrared gun and it ran around 145-150F. I'm sure that with a carb rebuild, new impeller and general maintenance this outboard would serve me well for many years, plus give me a bit of extra power and electric start. The only issue is that it didn't come with a throttle/shift control box, steering mechanism or any of the cables for them. It does have the wiring for remote key start with choke and the battery cables.
I don't want to set my boat up with a steering wheel/console because I'm already limited for space with 2 guys fishing onboard. So I'm trying to figure out the best plan to make use of this outboard. Apologies for the long-winded post but here goes with the questions...
Option 1- find a donor tiller handle motor to convert mine to tiller
-Does anyone know what is the range of model years the 1977 Johnson 25HP is compatible with? Is it the same model year range with the Evinrudes? Does it matter if the donor motor is electric start vs rope start? I'd love to find a tiller handle donor motor and convert the one I have. I attempted to figure it out myself but comparing part numbers was a bit mind boggling. I would think that I could use the steering bracket/handle off of any of the 20/25/30/35 motors.
Option 2- find a used throttle control box and make a custom tiller handle for steering
-I met a guy at my local lake who had done this in order to use a remote control motor as a tiller. He fabricated a tiller handle out of some steel tubing and a bit of angle steel that bolted up to the U shaped handle on the front of the motor. He mounted the key start and throttle control box next to the driver's seat position for throttle control . He shifted gears manually using the lever on the side of the motor, steered with his homemade tiller. He did a fairly good job with the fabrication/ installation and it didn't look terrible. Maybe in the future I could add stick steering which wouldn't take up so much space (don't' want to spend the money for that right now).
My question is which control box should I buy if I go for this option? I looked at used control boxes on Ebay and tried researching it a bit, but couldn't figure out which boxes would/wouldn't work? What would be the most cost effective way to do this?
Option 3- sell the Johnson 25 HP and try to find a tiller handle, electric start 25 hp
-I bought this outboard because I knew that even if it didn't work out for me, I could resell it for more than the $150 I paid for it. If it turns out that it can't be converted to tiller steering without major expense/headache, I'll just sell it and try to find a good deal on a tiller handle 25 HP with electric start.
Does anyone have any thoughts on what I should do with this outboard? Or any better ideas that I haven't thought of?
My situation:
I bought my first boat a little over a year ago (1987 Monarch 1448 aluminum flat bottom jon boat rated for 25 HP). Around the same time I bought a 1973 Johnson 20 HP rope start tiller in pretty bad shape (broken/repaired skeg, rattle can paint job, compression 99/102). With the help of this forum and contributors like Timguy, Joereeves, valvebounce fdrgator and others I gave it a major overhaul over the course of about 3 months and it has run well for me since then. Pushes my boat around 21 mph with 2 guys and fishing gear.
The 1977 25 HP:
I originally bought this outboard thinking I would rob the electric start components off of it and use them on the 20 HP, or take the tiller handle off of my 20 HP and use it on the 25HP. It was only after I got home and started doing research that I found out they went from the 22 cubic inch to 33 cubic inch in 1977 so the parts wouldn't be interchangeable. I started assessing the 25HP and realized it is in fairly good condition and probably a better motor to keep than my current 20 HP. Compression is 122/120. Turned over freely with great spark. No signs of water intrusion in the gear box when I drained the oil, no major cosmetic damage. It was a bit hard to start, but ran, idled, shifted and pumped water well without even cleaning the carb. I monitored the engine temp with an infrared gun and it ran around 145-150F. I'm sure that with a carb rebuild, new impeller and general maintenance this outboard would serve me well for many years, plus give me a bit of extra power and electric start. The only issue is that it didn't come with a throttle/shift control box, steering mechanism or any of the cables for them. It does have the wiring for remote key start with choke and the battery cables.
I don't want to set my boat up with a steering wheel/console because I'm already limited for space with 2 guys fishing onboard. So I'm trying to figure out the best plan to make use of this outboard. Apologies for the long-winded post but here goes with the questions...
Option 1- find a donor tiller handle motor to convert mine to tiller
-Does anyone know what is the range of model years the 1977 Johnson 25HP is compatible with? Is it the same model year range with the Evinrudes? Does it matter if the donor motor is electric start vs rope start? I'd love to find a tiller handle donor motor and convert the one I have. I attempted to figure it out myself but comparing part numbers was a bit mind boggling. I would think that I could use the steering bracket/handle off of any of the 20/25/30/35 motors.
Option 2- find a used throttle control box and make a custom tiller handle for steering
-I met a guy at my local lake who had done this in order to use a remote control motor as a tiller. He fabricated a tiller handle out of some steel tubing and a bit of angle steel that bolted up to the U shaped handle on the front of the motor. He mounted the key start and throttle control box next to the driver's seat position for throttle control . He shifted gears manually using the lever on the side of the motor, steered with his homemade tiller. He did a fairly good job with the fabrication/ installation and it didn't look terrible. Maybe in the future I could add stick steering which wouldn't take up so much space (don't' want to spend the money for that right now).
My question is which control box should I buy if I go for this option? I looked at used control boxes on Ebay and tried researching it a bit, but couldn't figure out which boxes would/wouldn't work? What would be the most cost effective way to do this?
Option 3- sell the Johnson 25 HP and try to find a tiller handle, electric start 25 hp
-I bought this outboard because I knew that even if it didn't work out for me, I could resell it for more than the $150 I paid for it. If it turns out that it can't be converted to tiller steering without major expense/headache, I'll just sell it and try to find a good deal on a tiller handle 25 HP with electric start.
Does anyone have any thoughts on what I should do with this outboard? Or any better ideas that I haven't thought of?