3012 S. Catherine, Lansing, MI 48911
I have been going to shows and collecting engines for over
twenty years, and I had never seen a rope start Johnson engine. At
the Buckley, Michigan Show 1990 I saw one, but the owner wasn’t
sure what it was because it didn’t have a tag. I told him it
was like a Johnson that I had, but mine had a cast iron base and a
kick start. I tried to buy it, but he said he wanted to restore
it.
I found mine at an auction about two months later in Lansing,
Michigan. It has a cast aluminum base and a cast iron muffler that
comes apart in two pieces. I have never seen a muffler like it.
While cleaning it up, I found traces of grey paint the same as I
had found on my other Johnson, so I think that must be
original.
It had no spark, but after cleaning up the mag and a new spark
plug wire, it had a good spark. The check valve gave me the most
trouble, because it was gummed up really bad. I put a new spark
plug in it, cleaned the brass and aluminum, then put on a new paint
job. It now starts and runs real nice.
