it's bout winter again

I'll be using my 57 johnson seahorse 10HP for about another month then will be in need of a new project. Any performance upgrades that can be done to this great lil motor to get me more go-go? The ignition coils are in desperate need of replacement so that'll be done, carbs have been rebuilt, and impeller is new. Any ideas?

Without going into the engine there is little that you can do to improve the performance on that model. The performance however is pretty darned good as it is. I take it you are runing 24:1 fuel oil mix, if not please do so no matter what Bubba or Billy Bob tells you otherwise. That is a plain bearing engine and needs an abundance of lubrication. If I were you I would completely reseal the gearcase this winter and go through your ignition system completely using new plugs, points, condensors, plug wires and coils. The only thing you need to make sure of on the coils is that you get your spacing correct so they are neither too far away from the flywheel nor rubbing it. When youre ready for the project come on back with another request and we can help. You can increase overall performance by looking around and coming up with an old Michigan Wheel 2-blade peformance brass/bronze propeller. Those things were worth another 1-2mph over stock blades sometimes. Try the guys over in https://www.aomci.org in the webvertise section and see if anyone has one they will sell.

thanks pappy, I will def be gettin into all the ignition/electrical parts ya mentioned and the lower unit seals were on the list. I'm only pushin a 100LB 12ft'r that is hitin 20-23mph as is. The biggest issue is the PITA starting (takes a lil extra work) and my pull rope recoil is missin the catch. All gonna be fixed cause I love the way this lil hun purrs when she does fire. Needa rebuild the fueltank too, has a lil air leak around the top.

I just rebuilt my tank (pic below) about 2 months ago. Its not hard to do. Just watch how you
take it apart. There is a little disc (number 29 in pic)smaller than a dine in diameter that is easy to lose. I did. Lucky The rebuild kit has 1 in it. got the kit for about $25.00
There are 2 rebuild kits for this kind of tank one is for the plastic primer and one for the metal primer.
Mine was the plastic one.
The rebuild kit I got contained the following items.
29, 28, 47, 2 of number 2, and 8 gaskets that goes under the screws that hold part 22 on.
Maybe another gasket or two I can't remember. Had to ask the guy for part 29.
So don't know if its standard or not.

big thanks for the illustration kilgore, i'm sure that saved me 8 hours of internet searchin!