Folding Johnson 3hp powerhead swap

[David Papke]

Greetings. A few days ago I bought a 1967 Johnson 3HP (JWF22C) as a parts motor. The power head is a frozen mess with a missing starter, missing cowling and corroded carburetor. The gas tank is coated inside with a white frost. The coils look OK, but the points show corrosion. That said, the transom bracket, folding exhaust leg, lower unit and propeller are complete with very little wear and tear (they look good!). That leaves me wondering how unique the engine mount is on these motors. Can the transom bracket, folding leg and lower unit be used with power heads from non-folding 3HP motors from other years? If so, what should years should I be looking for?

Like many others I’m looking for projects to get me through the COVID saga.

[dave-bernard]

Yes

[h20lew]

Yes, you can do that. I have a 1967 folding motor and I swapped in a powerhead from a standard from 1965 and it works great… you just need to cary over the adapter plate from the 1967. Adapter is OMC 0382072. If you want an external tank, you’ll want to look at motors from the mid 60s vs the late 50s to get motors with the correct openings cast in . I’m not sure when the change happened.

[fleetwin]

Looks like the midsection change occured in 1964. So most any 3hp from 1964-1967 should work. Powerhead removal/installation is “tricky” on the folders because the upper driveshaft has a locating pin like the 5.5/6hp models. The powerhead can not be removed unless the driveshaft pin is properly aligned with the slot in the adapter plate.

….Just did a little investigation on this…Looks like the older crankcases do supercede to the newer style crankcases, so it is possible that the older powerheads will fit. But, beware of superceding “backwards”, then can bite you in the butt….So, I will stick with the recommendation of using the powerheads from 64-67.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 11 months ago by fleetwin.

[David Papke]

“The powerhead can not be removed unless the driveshaft pin is properly aligned with the slot in the adapter plate.”

I discovered that issue the hard way. It took me quite a while to figure it out, but that’s part of the fun.

[David Papke]

That makes perfect sense. I saw 382072 on the parts explosion and wondered about it. Thanks!

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