Ongoing questions: this time "Gearcase"

[nj-boatbuilder57]

The never-ending journey continues….’57 Johnson Golden Javelin / ’59 Gale Sovereign mashup. "Identical engines", kinda-sorta.

This began with 2 carcasses. The Gale was in "6" condition, the Johnson was a "2" with a fully frozen powerhead & lots of broken parts. There was enough "there" to get the Gale running well, and enough "pretty stuff" to dress it up as a Golden Javelin. It pulled water skiers this summer, so let’s call everything a success! for all practical purposes, I have a fully restored "Gale Golden Javelin"!

I’m now turning my attention to salvageable leftover pieces & parts, and right now I’m focused on the Johnson’s lower. I drained it and what came out was more goo than oil, but no water….so that’s a good sign. But I can’t really determine if the gearset is the same / interchangeable with the gears in my working engine, so I don’t know if there’s a point in keeping these gears. The gear part numbers are different, according to the different parts manuals I have, but the way OMC used different part numbers across the different OMC platforms, that might not mean anything.

I guess my first & foremost question is: Are ’57 Johnson gears different than ’59 Gale gears? Better? Stronger? Or are they all the same?

The johnson does have a threaded propshaft & metal threaded propnut which strikes me as a better design than the Gale’s that I’m using that has the plastic spinner & cotterpin style.

And then there’s this on the Johnson. Bad, right? 🙂 More importantly, can it be straightened?

I could:

a.) fix up this lower completely & have a spare, complete lower (bent skeg notwithstanding)
b.) provided the gears are compatible, keep the gearset & pieces as spares for my existing lower, and just keep the housing as a spare as well; toss the skeg.

Or if anyone has another idea, I’m all ears.

Right now, the Johnson lower is all apart, pieces & parts spread out over my bench as I wonder what to do.

[frankr]

Much has been written on that subject, which I have not recorded. But I’ll stick my neck out and say that the parts are swappable if you swap enough stuff. For instance you might have to also swap the prop shaft and clutch dog (???).

[nj-boatbuilder57]

I think I remember reading something about "stronger, Improved gearsets" after 58(?) so I may have the better gears already at work in my engine…..or maybe that’s just an incorrect memory. Any thoughts?

The threaded shaft on the ’57 does seem like a better way to secure the prop, though, so I wouldn’t altogether mind putting that shaft into my engine someday. Or is that pointless?

The skeg: toast?

[frankr]

1957 was the first year for the improved pinion gear & bearing. The plastic prop nut scared me when I saw the first one, but after seeing a few thousand more with no failure, I decided they are ok after all. In truth, I’ve seen more failures with the threaded nut where the shear pin broke and the prop then spun the nut off and everything went down to Davy Jones’

[nj-boatbuilder57]

Interesting!

I’m leaning towards just putting the Johnson gears away for a rainy day & forgetting the rest…..including the threaded shaft.

[chris-p]

If it were mine, I would rebuild the assembly, and have it ready as a bolt on replacement if the need arises.

The official answer is you are not supposed to swap skegs. The unofficial answer is I have done it 1, 2, maybe 50 times. The motors don’t really seem to notice I promise. Swap the skeg, don’t bother with that one, and away you go.

In regards to the gear swap, you need to swap the whole fwd/reverse/pinion/clutch dog/prop shaft assembly. But, I would just rebuild it and reseal it and have it ready to bolt up should you ever need it. Wont be a waste of money by any means.

[jerry-ahrens]

I tried once, to transplant a complete Gale 35 gear set, along with prop shaft, over to a 1957 Evinrude 35. It worked good for a bit, then acted like I had a bad clutch dog… The gear set and clutch from the Gale gearcase was perfect. Adjusting the shift handle linkage would not help. I ended up buying all new old stock parts to fix the Evinrude. One thing I found out during the rebuilding of my 1960 Gale 35, is, that you would be surprised how many differences there are from a Gale to a Evinrude or a Johnson. Long story short, keep the Gale/Sea King gear sets with their original gearcases. Don’t mix and match.

[nj-boatbuilder57]

and THAT is exactly what I needed to know! Many thanks!

I’ll keep my eyes open for a skeg; once found, I’ll rebuild the Johnson as a spare, complete lower and keep it for a rainy day….

[cajuncook1]

quote NJ-boatbuilder57:

and THAT is exactly what I needed to know! Many thanks!

I’ll keep my eyes open for a skeg; once found, I’ll rebuild the Johnson as a spare, complete lower and keep it for a rainy day….

It is best to keep the 2 halves of the gearcase a matching pair. Mismatching can create sealing issues. They come from the factory as a matching pair.

[nj-boatbuilder57]

I’m by no means an expert, so I appreciate the advice. But Chris_P, in his post above, says that he’s swapped skegs often.

The notion that I can straighten the existing skeg doesn’t seem realistic.

[Author]

Posts