Wrong motor cover on Johnson 35hp??

Just wondering if my johnson has a wrong motor cover or is this how it came from the factory. Its a 1983 35hp johnson long shaft converted to short, and the cover says 30hp. The guy i purchase it from owns a outboard shop. He says these 30 and 35hp johnsons are identical.. I want to switch out that cover to the correct one if there's any 35hp cover for this particular model. So what do you guys think, wrong cover, or his he right?

Their identical except for the 5 extra HP.
Evidently something happened to the original cowl and he replaced it with the 30hp.
If it bothers you that much then you can look for a 35hp cowl or you can look for a 35hp decal kit on ebay.

Yep, pretty much the same motor. Like previously mentioned, you could find a trade or reproduction decal set. Decal set is gonna run you at least $40, and it may be hard to find a similar condition 35hp cowl to trade. Your cowl looks to be in good condition. I'd keep it as is and save my money. If you decide to go with new decals, look up our board sponsor, bulldog.

Whoopbass said:

Evidently something happened to the original cowl and he replaced it with the 30hp.

Click to expand...

X2

Go with some new decals, easy to apply. I got some from EBay, but now that bulldog is here......

in model year 1985 omc went to prop rating their motors... so the 35 hp was re badged as a 30 hp.

so in reality a 1983 35 hp was the equivalent to a post 1985 30 hp.

also since we know its been converted from a long to short shaft i would check model number on the freeze plug on the block to see if it matches whats on the leg as thats more telling of what you actually have.

personally i think your motor looks great and i would rather have the newer cowling. but to each their own and here is what you would be looking for https://www.greatlakesboatco.com/site_page_347/images/l_003.jpg . you could also go with the decal set from nana's decals on ebay but they get swamped with orders from time to time and take down there store while processing orders.

Personally, I would leave it as is since it looks to be in excellent shape. That means more money you can spend on fishing gear.

The midsection was probably a 35hp short shaft and the powerhead probably came off a 30hp long shaft that's why it has 35hp on the tags and 30hp on the hood. The guy that swiched them put the original hoods with the original powerheads. Just my guess. I could be wrong.

Lil' Blue Rude said:

The midsection was probably a 35hp short shaft and the powerhead probably came off a 30hp long shaft that's why it has 35hp on the tags and 30hp on the hood. The guy that swiched them put the original hoods with the original powerheads. Just my guess. I could be wrong.

Click to expand...

My guess as well. We used to do lower unit swaps quite a bit. If it runs good, your good to go. Do not let those little things worry you.

I used to have a 75hp Chrylser outboard. Engine was basically shot when I bought it. I had a good Chrysler 105hp engine laying at the shop with a bad lower unit. Tossed the 105hp powerhead on my midsection, clamped down the hood that still said 75hp, and ran it. Decals or tags do not effect performance.

Matt

That's a good looking motor. I picked up one last season. Love how it performs.

Thanks for the input guys. As one of you point out that since its rebuilt and converted to shortshaft. The model number on the mid section will be different from the powerhead. I look and this is what I got from the powerhead, J25TECTE. Did he rip me off . So this is actually a 25hp motor?? Don't tell me I paid for a 35hp and got a 25 instead, is there other ways I can identified this motor as being a 35... Something just don't seem right.. :x

sawtee said:

Thanks for the input guys. As one of you point out that since its rebuilt and converted to shortshaft. The model number on the mid section will be different from the powerhead. I look and this is what I got from the powerhead, J25TECTE. Did he rip me off . So this is actually a 25hp motor?? Don't tell me I paid for a 35hp and got a 25 instead, is there other ways I can identified this motor as being a 35... Something just don't seem right.. :x

Click to expand...

Yea, it looks like someone did a switcheroo. Let the seller know. The carb would differ between the 25 and 35 for sure.

Originally it was a 25 but who knows now. Looks like it was a short shaft as well.
Maybe he swapped the carb and turned it into a 35hp. Carbs have serial #'s on them. Go to www.shopevinrude.com and see if the 35hp carbs have the same # as your carb. If the numbers don't match then check the 25 & 30 hp carbs.
Your motor has been pieced together but if it runs good and the carb is from a 35hp motor then its pretty much what you thought it was when you bought it.
I might go back and raise a little hell with him regardless of the outcome.

It takes more then just a carb to get ten extra ponies out of that motor I would think. Maybe a little more stroke and larger reeds,intake, and exhaust ports. I mean I could be wrong but surely its not just as easy as swaping a carb, If that was the case nobody in there right mind would spend so much more on a 35 when a 20 and a new carb would be so much cheaper. I would go back to the shop and ask some questions atleast.

It's pretty much just the carb and it might only be the carb on that model. Some guys claim there is different exhaust tubes but I don't know if that's the case for the 20-35 hp motors.
I put a 15hp carb on a 9.9 and it made a big difference.
I also put a 35hp carb on my 25hp motor and it wasn't running right for some reason but I know other guys have been successful doing so. When I get time my 35hp carb is going back on my motor and hopefully I will be able to figure out what I did wrong. Fishing is starting to get good so I don't know when that is going to happen.

I also have done the 9.9 to 15 hp carb change but I also did the exhaust & reed shims.My buddy did the same but didn't do the exhaust & reed shims,there was a noticeable difference.
The reed shims let more fuel in & the exhaust lets it breath better.The factory wouldn't have done this if it didn't make a difference.

I suspected you would find the block had been swapped out too. Lots of outboard mechanics do this because these motors stayed the same for soo many years and there are very little differences between the models. And I don't believe what he did was wrong because you still may have a 30hp.

I will say this again, the 1984 and earlier 35 became the 30 in 1985 and there after due to OMC going to prop rating their motors. I have never seen a 1985+ 35hp johnson here in America with the exception of the few years they made a detuned 40 and called it a 35hp.

The same block was used on the 20, 25, 30 hp. The only difference between these models was the carb and the intake manifold. Since the guy told you it was 30 hp, it very well may be if he used the carb and intake from a 30/35. As you can imagine the 20/25 carb has a smaller throat than a 30/35hp carb would. And I just measured the throat from a 1981 35hp carb I have on the shelf, it measures 1 5/16".

You were right Blunt, I call him and he told me thats what he did. Got the intake manifold and carb from a 35hp and that all the 20/25/30/35 uses the same block. I'm relieve to know I didn't get cheated.

Anyways thanks for the replies fellas. I'm new to this boat and outboard thing, so there's just so many unanswered questions. Bought my 16' starcraft powered by a 1970's 9.5hp evinrude last summer. It tops out at 10mph, just way too slow for me. So I decided to find me a bigger motor. Can't wait till the lakes are clear of ice so I can take it for a spin.

sawtee said:

You were right Blunt, I call him and he told me thats what he did. Got the intake manifold and carb from a 35hp and that all the 20/25/30/35 uses the same block. I'm relieve to know I didn't get cheated.

Anyways thanks for the replies fellas. I'm new to this boat and outboard thing, so there's just so many unanswered questions. Bought my 16' starcraft powered by a 1970's 9.5hp evinrude last summer. It tops out at 10mph, just way too slow for me. So I decided to find me a bigger motor. Can't wait till the lakes are clear of ice so I can take it for a spin.

Click to expand...

Kinda funny, last summer my boat had a 9.5 Evinrude on it as well. Upgraded to a 20hp Johnson for the same reasons.

Matt

blunt said:

The same block was used on the 20, 25, 30 hp. The only difference between these models was the carb and the intake manifold. Since the guy told you it was 30 hp, it very well may be if he used the carb and intake from a 30/35. As you can imagine the 20/25 carb has a smaller throat than a 30/35hp carb would. And I just measured the throat from a 1981 35hp carb I have on the shelf, it measures 1 5/16".

Click to expand...

How far back were the blocks the same on the Johnson's? Would this switcharoo trick fly on a '66 20HP, could I possible make a 30HP!? :wink: :lol: