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Need help bringing a Johnson 20R273A back to life

For me, VB, it can depend on my motor. I bring guys up in the wilderness that probably make Joe look like a teenager.....I mean guys over 90. Nobody around for 25 miles no cell phones, no electricity.....lots of rocks and very dark water. Often late Oct., early November. Gotta be careful, but almost always 2 motors on each boat.
 
Okay Mike now get yourself a head gasket put the head back on get that used stator from Tim's outboard and put this together following Joes instructions. Next get that lower unit back on and you got one week to get that six month old boy out on the lake.
Ps. You can get the gasket from Tim's too.
 
timguy said:
For me, VB, it can depend on my motor. I bring guys up in the wilderness that probably make Joe look like a teenager.....I mean guys over 90. Nobody around for 25 miles no cell phones, no electricity.....lots of rocks and very dark water. Often late Oct., early November. Gotta be careful, but almost always 2 motors on each boat.
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TG,I use a 6hp evinrude or a 5hp air cooled Yamaha as an emergency engine.
 
Timguy- Just got off the phone with the folks at Tim's Outboard. They are sending me a used armature plate with all the magneto parts still attached (which is good because my mounting screws are bent) plus a new head gasket and some other miscellaneous hardware for a very reasonable price. Great folks to deal with. And they can get it in the mail to me today. Thanks for the referral they will definitely be getting my business in the future.

By the way Timguy I've been meaning to tell you I visited your part of the world in 2012. A friend and I rode from Atlanta to Northwestern Ontario on a 2 week, 3500 mile motorcycle trip. Tent camped most of the way. Passed through International Falls, then Thunder Bay. Then got off the paved roads and rode abandoned CN Railway routes with the tracks removed and logging roads to a town (village is probably more accurate) called Ear Falls. You're right about the Canadian back country...definitely can't count on your cell phone to save you out there. Then over to the bigger town of Kenora before heading back down to the States.

Accidentally melted my kevlar reinforced riding gloves trying to dry them by a camp fire so we detoured over to Duluth to stop at a shop called Aerostich that sells high-end motorcycle riding gear to buy some elk skin gloves. We weren't there long but I remember Duluth as a nice looking city.

My plans for this boat are to explore the local lakes and rivers and certainly include getting off the beaten track although we don't have huge stretches of wilderness in Georgia like you do up in Minnesota and Ontario. Gonna do my best to make sure that this 20HP can be counted on to get me back to the boat landing. I also have a little 2002 3.3HP Mercury (I think it's actually made by Tohahtsu) that I can carry as a backup. Weighs only 30 pounds and has never failed to started and run. When I first decided I needed a motor vessel to take the boy out in I made a side mount for my canoe and bought the lightest outboard I could find locally on Craigslist. I have very limited space to park a boat at my house so I thought I'd try that first. After the first trip out I decided it was way too off-balance and tippy to take a kid in. I had planned on selling the Mercury but maybe I'll keep it as a lightweight backup.

I went ahead and reinstalled the lower unit today. As soon as those parts get here I'll button it back up and post and update.
 
Ahhh.... His Harley Hydra Glide has a baby! Ain't it cute? :)

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That's a bike that can take you where you really need to go. I'm not into tattoos, but got enough battle scars to tell some much more interesting stories. Glad they set you up at Tim's. They are a great outfit. I am very familiar with the areas you describe around Kenora. If you head up the Jones Rd and cross the Trans Canada railway, you can pick your way back into our lake but you probably will need some good luck, or a chain saw to make it. Its about 35 miles from Jones to our lake, but the trails are getting badly grown in. Last I was into camp using that route was around 1999 and in Feb. with my 16 hp Olympic. Had some beaver dams to cross and 2 good size creeks. Could have taken the Wabigoon R. Up 17 miles from North Star camp, but there are several areas of currents where the ice is very dangerous. Nobody but nobody is around. You go for a swim and your gonna wish you'd have instead gone to the Grand Canyon for that "perfect" selfie.
 
Oh come on VB, UK is beautiful, with great people and infinite history. If your talking about population density, well another story. Canada is but 4 humans per sq km. While the UK is averaged out at 280 per sq km. England wins at 430, Scotland not bad at 70. Come and visit us, brother, but bring some warm clothes.......still have snow in the forecast. Mike's state, Georgia, is about 65 per sq km. Joe, in Florida is at 137 per sq km.
 
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After a brief delay in the project due to the flu, I think I'm finally ready to call this project complete (except for a paint job). Starts easy, runs, idles, shifts into forward neutral and reverse, pees water and the kill switch works. Started on about the third pull and ran with no issues. Filled my test tank as high as it will go which is definitely over the level of the impeller and it sprayed water nicely out the exhaust at the rear of the leg. After idling for a few minutes and revving up occasionally I checked the temperature at the cylinder head using an IR thermometer. Right around 175F. Seems like a reasonable temp to me.

The new armature plate I got from Tim's Outboard can with all the parts and wires attached in what I'm guessing it's the factory routing. Everything looked neat and tidy. So when I reassembled with all my new parts I finally think I have all the wiring routed correctly.

I want to thank everyone who has shared their expertise and advise over the last 2 months that it took me to get this thing resurrected. Absolutely would not have been possible without your help.

I'm going to post a link to a video of it running. After that I think I'll start new posts in the future when I have questions. I think 2 months and over 160 posts is probably enough for this thread.
 
racerone said:
In my opinion water level should still be higher.-----Some would argue that fact.
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At that level the pump is in the water but not fully submerged. I would prefer the water level a good inch higher.

Also... with that level obtained by having the water so high in the container... with the engine running, that level will drop rapidly.
 
Racerone- in order to get the water higher up on the leg I would have to lower height of my outboard stand. This would make it difficult to get the trash can I use as a water tank in and out. It wouldn't be difficult to lower the stand but I was hoping that wouldn't be necessary since I though it was pumping water well at this water height. Based on the video of it running, does it look like it's pumping water well in your opinion? I have zero outboard experience before this project so I don't know what the pee stream is supposed to look like. Is there another reason to want the water level higher up the leg?
 
Mike.... What I used to do at home, when needed, was not to lower the metal stand (impossible) on which I might have a engine mounted on... BUT... rather to raise the barrel or trash can with wood planks.

In looking at your picture, that barrel could be raised a few more inches... and then add the water.
 
Thanks Joereeves that's exactly what I'll do. I can block up the trash can as high as I want and really get the water level high up the leg. I have a couple of cinder blocks that'll do nicely. And I still leave the stand higher up so I'm not hunched over when I'm working on the outboard .
 
Mike, this has been a great post. Ending with tons of information for the archives. Joe and Racer have endured throughout they are about the finest and treasured techs here, you have shown humility and courtesy. I have enjoyed this post and wish you the best. Nice running motor.
 
Thanks Timguy for all your help. I'm taking the boat and motor out for testing at a small local lake on Tuesday. Assuming all goes well I'll be taking my son out for his first boat ride that day... about a week before he turns 7 months old. When you mentioned you took your son for his first ride at 6 months I thought that sounded like a worthy goal. And I'm sure I'll be back with questions. Thanks again sir.
 
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