TOPIC: 1958 Johnson Super Seahorse on a Lake N Sea?

Just asking another question.. I am looking at this Johnson Super Seahorse long shaft, and would like to put it on my 1960 Lake N sea Carribean. My question is, will it work?

The motor is currently on a 1961 Glasspar Lido with between a 15-16 inch transom, which is what my Lake N Sea has... you can see the home made cavitation?? plate on the motor... I would remove this, but my question is, will it work well on my boat.

THe gentleman had a Evinrude Big Twin short shaft on the boat, but in turns, experienced the prop comming out of the water, and so switched to the longer Johnson shaft. and had njo problem... he said that the lido would run just about completly out of the water.. running only on the rear of the hull and the motor... sounds good to me...

Also, is there anything I should look out for with this particular motor? and what exactly does the correct control box look like?

You time and information is most appreciated.

Andy

The Caribbean is setup for a short shaft, as is your Lido. The Johnson you've got there looks to be a short shaft, too- The cavitation plate looks like it's pretty much lined up with the bottom of the boat- Should be the same on the Lake N Sea!

That motor was my first choice to put on MY '59, too- It's a great style match. She'll look great back there!

-Andrew

sounds very promissing then!

Ok another question! I take it that the cavitation plate is located on the shaft underneath the cavitation "collar" that someone installed?

In other words, is the cavitation plate, working from the propellar hub, the second 'fin" up the shaft? I am confused on the terminology.. and so, am not sure what to line up.


Thanks again for the help and info!

retro54 wrote:

sounds very promissing then!

Ok another question! I take it that the cavitation plate is located on the shaft underneath the cavitation "collar" that someone installed?

In other words, is the cavitation plate, working from the propellar hub, the second 'fin" up the shaft? I am confused on the terminology.. and so, am not sure what to line up.


Thanks again for the help and info!

Yup...the cavitation plate is what that goofy whale tale thinga-ma-bob is bolted to.

The older short shafts, at least the OMCs, im finding were usually alot closer to 17-18inches in shaft length with the long shafts being closer to 21-22". On both my G3 and my Gold Cup, the short shaft transoms measured out right at 15". The '57 Seahorse i have measures at 17" leaving the cavitation plate 2" below the keel. Ive tried it 2 inches below the keel, even with the keel and 2 inches above the keel and it makes absolutely zero performance difference on either boat. Only difference is that it ventilates the prop in the corners with it 2 inches above.

I dont think cavitation plate placement is all that critical with most of these "slow and steady" vintage hulls with such a small amount of HP personally. As long as its in the ballpark of an inch or two above or below the keel and your pumping cooling water, your good to go.

As for a control box...any of the twin lever OMC boxes will work. Think mine came from a mid\late 60's Evinrude. Looks similar to this one:

retro where is that lido?its the same as mine and i need alot of parts.john

Jeffrey! Thanks a lot! this gives me the confidence I was looking for! great.

Also, the control box it has is similar, just missing a badge on it.. sounds like a winner.

John, I was thinking about you... give me a day.. the boat isn't going anywhere... it needs a load of work!

by the way i didnt mean to hijack your thread ,but my lido is in even worse shape then that lido.sorry about the hijack,john

To be period correct, the control box should be a Johnson Ship-Master of the Football shaped variety. The rectangular style shown above is for later models, c. early 1960s & up. They would look like these, only in white.

Also, for clarification purposes, the horizontal plate above the propeller is actually referred to as an Anti-Ventilation plate, or AV Plate for short - NOT a cavitation plate. Cavitation refers to an issue with the wrong propeller being used for an application resulting in pressure bubbles building on the prop blades resulting in inefficient thrust. Ventilation is what was happening with your rig where surface air was drawn into the prop stream resulting in the motor revving and loss of thrust. This can be due to aggressive operation, improper set-up, improper propeller selection, etc.

- Scott

Scott... great info! thanks for the advice too... some of this stuff is new to me... never messed with these bigger motors... I'm gonna have to look for the ship-master controls then... but the ones I have will do for the time being...

John, not at all... no worries man, I'll shoot you an e-mail by the end of the week. maybe you can make 1 good boat out of two!

retro thanks i appreciate it,john