1961 Lark 3

Bought what seems to be a restorable 1961 Lark 111 40 hp, ser# checks out. I've seen reference to a crankshaft problem with them. Most say it was until 1960, some say still a problem in 1961. Best I can find if it really was a problem by 1962 it was fixed. Anyone know the real story? Don't really want to waste the time and $$ if its a crank waiting to break. I also found a 1962 40 hp super seahorse, full electric, including the shift. Shift is bad but the rest is OK. Wondering about using the power head on the Lark. I can't find a word about weak cranks on the Johnsons, but seems to me if one had the problem they both would. Can anybody clear this up?

Thanks Steve A W. That link is the most specific info I've seen, I expect its credible. Other than that its been all hear say. To Pappys point I can find pages of post on this 1961 engine with people solving the same problems every other outboard of the era has, which must mean crank failure isn't an absolute on the '61. In Max Wawrzyniak's artical he stressed flywheel key shearing with crank damage secondary. I'm wondering if they have a problem similar to the old chevy 348 & 409 V8. No problem unless you decelerate too fast from high RPM without a load = streched rods & or snapped crank? I can live with that. My hull is about ready and I'm set on this model engine for it. This '61 is the only one I've found in my area in a year. I'll keep looking, in the meantime I'll strip it down, probably find something internal that makes the whole thing a waste anyway! There's an upside, if there's that many scraped finding the brights and trim for the cowl should'nt be a problem. Somebody striped them and painted the whole thing O D. Must have been a duck hunter.

Found something definitive, a link here to www.screamandfly. A number of original adds, one for the 1962 Johnson 40 hp. New improvements and reliability. Including stronger crank,rods,pistons and flywheel. Doe's anyone know if a '62 Johnson powerhead a with bad electric shift will bolt up to a '61 Lark 3? both 40 hp.