Results 1 to 19 of 19
  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Hickory Corners, MI
    Posts
    73

    40 HP Johnson trim/tilt conversion?

    Hi fellas. I bought another boat, 1989 Sea Nymph Fishing Machine FM161. It came with a 1989 40 HP Johnson twin with VRO2 on it. I bought it from a guy at work that I trust for $1800 for boat, motor and trailer. It's a diamond in the rough. And I mean rough. He bought it a couple years ago and only used it a couple times. Motor looks pretty clean. It came with a used power tilt/trim assembly in a box. Some assembly required. Tilt/trim unit looks identical to the one on my 84 Evinrude 150 on the Astro. He said it just needed to be installed. I planned to install it yesterday and looked at my 150 to see how it was attached, then looked at the bracket on the 40 HP. The 40 has no mounting provisions for tilt/trim. There are no holes for it. The 40 HP is a manual tilt motor. And it's missing a tilt assist cylinder and the lock/unlock lever doesn't do anything. I think it's missing parts that I don't have. My dock is in very shallow water so tilt/trim is just about a "must have". My gut feeling is that I can change the transom bracket to a power tilt/trim bracket and add a relay box for the electrics and It should work. Finding a blown up motor with a good bracket shouldn't be too hard. If I have the tilt/trim assembly, is the transom bracket the only other part I need to convert this motor? I bought some XD50 oil and I will mix 100:1 in the tank until I'm sure the VRO2 works correctly and is injecting oil. TIA!
    Gregg

    89 Astro 18 FS fish n' ski
    87 Evinrude 90 VRO- Blowd up
    84 Evinrude 150 ex-VRO 75th Anniversary
    Merc Thruster 12/24

    2018 Bennington S20 Pontoon "Black Pearl"
    50 HP Yamaha Hi Thrust

    Sea Nymph 16' Fishing Machine
    Johnson 40 HP VRO
    OMC 12V troller

  2. Member ELGIN's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    K-PAX
    Posts
    2,828
    #2
    Post a model number from your engine so we know which swivel bracket you have.
    RUSTY63 in a Shiny Green Jacket.......

  3. Ohio Fishing Reports Moderator omcforever's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Miamisburg Ohio/Formerly Aiken SC
    Posts
    20,053
    #3
    I went thru this once with a 115 way back when. After figuring what I would need to find as far a parts/donor motor, work involved changing stuff, it was easier cheaper to just buy a CMC tilt and trim unit. Your non tilt motor just bolts to it after you loosen your motor and bolt it between boat and motor and you actually get some setback as well. It is an option to consider,,,Art

    https://thmarinesupplies.com/collect...arine-products

    Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill !!

  4. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Hickory Corners, MI
    Posts
    73
    #4
    I apologize Elgin. Premature postage. 89 Johnson 40 HP, Model J40ELCEC. Upon further research, the 40 HP uses a single cylinder tilt/trim. 50 HP and up uses twin cylinder tilt/trim. That means the tilt/trim set-up that the guy gave me only fits 50 HP and up. It looks like it could possibly be a spare for my 150. It looks the same.
    Gregg

    89 Astro 18 FS fish n' ski
    87 Evinrude 90 VRO- Blowd up
    84 Evinrude 150 ex-VRO 75th Anniversary
    Merc Thruster 12/24

    2018 Bennington S20 Pontoon "Black Pearl"
    50 HP Yamaha Hi Thrust

    Sea Nymph 16' Fishing Machine
    Johnson 40 HP VRO
    OMC 12V troller

  5. Member ELGIN's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    K-PAX
    Posts
    2,828
    #5
    No apologies needed, it just helps us to know what we are working with.
    RUSTY63 in a Shiny Green Jacket.......

  6. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Hickory Corners, MI
    Posts
    73
    #6
    Well, that would be an option except the motor doesn't have any of the manual tilt parts on it, either. No lift assist cylinder, no lock down parts, etc. It has the lock lever but it just has a little nub on the inside. The lock lever I saw online has a ball stud or something like that. Just trying to figure out what my options are right now. Thanks for the reply!
    Gregg

    89 Astro 18 FS fish n' ski
    87 Evinrude 90 VRO- Blowd up
    84 Evinrude 150 ex-VRO 75th Anniversary
    Merc Thruster 12/24

    2018 Bennington S20 Pontoon "Black Pearl"
    50 HP Yamaha Hi Thrust

    Sea Nymph 16' Fishing Machine
    Johnson 40 HP VRO
    OMC 12V troller

  7. Ohio Fishing Reports Moderator omcforever's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Miamisburg Ohio/Formerly Aiken SC
    Posts
    20,053

    Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill !!

  8. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Hickory Corners, MI
    Posts
    73
    #8
    Looking into this further and it's gonna be a mess. The touch trim cylinder is missing so nothing secures the motor to the transom bracket to keep the motor from flipping up out of the water in reverse. The CMC tilt/trim could fix half the problem, but not all of it. I might be able to set something up using rod ends to keep the motor down in reverse and use a CMC trim/tilt for that function. Better not hit anything underwater unless the CMC bracket has a relief circuit. The other option is to find an OMC single ram trim/tilt assembly. Looking at the dual piston one I got with the boat, it would be a lot of work because the trim/tilt is so much wider than one for a 40 HP. Plus there's no place for the trim rods to land on the bracket. The wider transom bracket layout required to fit the bigger trim/tilt unit also makes the steering cable set-up too short. OMC trim/tilt of the correct size looks like the best option but man, are they pricey, even used off fee bay.
    Gregg

    89 Astro 18 FS fish n' ski
    87 Evinrude 90 VRO- Blowd up
    84 Evinrude 150 ex-VRO 75th Anniversary
    Merc Thruster 12/24

    2018 Bennington S20 Pontoon "Black Pearl"
    50 HP Yamaha Hi Thrust

    Sea Nymph 16' Fishing Machine
    Johnson 40 HP VRO
    OMC 12V troller

  9. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Hickory Corners, MI
    Posts
    73
    #9
    Update..... I cobbled up a spacer so I could run the boat and motor on the lake. Since it's missing everything for the manual lift assist, the cable, the cylinder and the cylinder bracket, I made a spacer out of a 3" PVC pipe coupling and enough reducers to get it down to 1/2" so I could still put the bolt trough the transom bracket. Fiddled around with it in the adjusting holes to get the motor trim to look about right and took it out on the water. I had to pull the carbs off first and clean everything out. Jets were plugged up and the only thing that came out of the float bowls was old oil. And yes, I did drop one of the bowl screws down the hole that goes into the mid section of the motor. I found another screw that fit and finished putting the carbs back on the motor. I'll fish the other screw out when I do the water pump. I couldn't get it to stay running without hitting the primer and futzing with the fast idle lever. I was 2 turns open on the mixture screw. When I hit the primer it would ramp up to 5000 rpm and drop back down and want to stall. If I closed the fast idle lever, it would stall. I opened up the mixture screws another turn and now it will idle on it's own- 3 turns open. I have not run it enough to see if the VRO is pulling oil so I have 100:1 premix in the tank. I'll mark the VRO tank and see if it draws. It ran pretty good on the water and only surged at one spot on the throttle. I'll get that sorted out. So far it looks like I might keep the boat. I will need to find a single cylinder tilt/trim unit and the lower mounting bracket. It's so shallow at my dock that I have to use the electric troller to get out deep enough to lower the motor. At my dock, it will stick in the mud.
    Gregg

    89 Astro 18 FS fish n' ski
    87 Evinrude 90 VRO- Blowd up
    84 Evinrude 150 ex-VRO 75th Anniversary
    Merc Thruster 12/24

    2018 Bennington S20 Pontoon "Black Pearl"
    50 HP Yamaha Hi Thrust

    Sea Nymph 16' Fishing Machine
    Johnson 40 HP VRO
    OMC 12V troller

  10. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Hickory Corners, MI
    Posts
    73
    #10
    OK, I got my power trim/tilt assembly. It has the wiring harness with the trim sender already wired in. I checked my boat and found the cable for the power trim/tilt tucked under a panel in the gunnel. It's never been used. Plugs match up so I plugged it in and the trim/tilt relays click with the rocker on the remote control so the wiring is good. The problem is the trim/tilt relay box is for a larger motor where it's mounted under the engine cover on the back of the block. No place to mount it on this little 40 HP. This motor is supposed to have a separate pair of relays that mount to the transom, I believe. I ordered up a 30 A relay set from that auction site and I'll mount them under the transom tray so they stay dry. The trim/tilt cylinder came with all the do-dads, plastic bushings, pins, cross bolt, etc. It's a good looking unit and it functions correctly. Very pleased with it. It just costs too much. I get it, they're somewhat rare.

    The question I have is how does the trim sender mount? From looking at it, it looks like the sender mounts on the inside of the swivel bracket with the arm on the outside of the bracket. I checked it electrically and it work fine. Is that the correct location? I will need to find another trim gauge as there isn't one in the dash since it was a touch tilt manual motor from the factory. This thin is coming together nicely. It's gonna be a good boat.
    Gregg

    89 Astro 18 FS fish n' ski
    87 Evinrude 90 VRO- Blowd up
    84 Evinrude 150 ex-VRO 75th Anniversary
    Merc Thruster 12/24

    2018 Bennington S20 Pontoon "Black Pearl"
    50 HP Yamaha Hi Thrust

    Sea Nymph 16' Fishing Machine
    Johnson 40 HP VRO
    OMC 12V troller

  11. Member ELGIN's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    K-PAX
    Posts
    2,828
    #11
    It bolts in there on the stern bracket and rubs against the swivel bracket.
    RUSTY63 in a Shiny Green Jacket.......

  12. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Hickory Corners, MI
    Posts
    73
    #12
    Thanks ELGIN. I mounted the trim/tilt assembly last night. It fits nicely and I jumpered the motor leads and it raises and lowers fully. Smooth as a baby's bottom. I'm not sure which lower hole it should be mounted in so I put it in the forward hole. I might have an issue mounting the trim sender. There are no holes in the transom bracket to mount the sender. There are two holes in the swivel bracket that look like they would line up but the direction the lever on the sender would move is incorrect. There might be an un-drilled boss on the transom bracket that I could drill and tap if it's in the correct location but I think it's too far away from the transom. Does anyone have a picture of the trim sender location on a late 80's, early 90's 25-50 HP motor? Once the relay kit arrives I'll be able to finish the wiring. I can run it w/o the trim indication.
    Gregg

    89 Astro 18 FS fish n' ski
    87 Evinrude 90 VRO- Blowd up
    84 Evinrude 150 ex-VRO 75th Anniversary
    Merc Thruster 12/24

    2018 Bennington S20 Pontoon "Black Pearl"
    50 HP Yamaha Hi Thrust

    Sea Nymph 16' Fishing Machine
    Johnson 40 HP VRO
    OMC 12V troller

  13. Member ELGIN's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    K-PAX
    Posts
    2,828
    #13
    I dont have any pics.
    RUSTY63 in a Shiny Green Jacket.......

  14. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Hickory Corners, MI
    Posts
    73
    #14
    I think I'm going to leave the trim sender off the boat. I don't really need it. I have a water pressure gauge and I only need trim/tilt for docking. Our lake is small so you can run from one end to the other in about a minute at full throttle. The boat runs 30 MPH GPS. Fast enough.
    Gregg

    89 Astro 18 FS fish n' ski
    87 Evinrude 90 VRO- Blowd up
    84 Evinrude 150 ex-VRO 75th Anniversary
    Merc Thruster 12/24

    2018 Bennington S20 Pontoon "Black Pearl"
    50 HP Yamaha Hi Thrust

    Sea Nymph 16' Fishing Machine
    Johnson 40 HP VRO
    OMC 12V troller

  15. Member ELGIN's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    K-PAX
    Posts
    2,828
    #15
    I would agree with that idea, not like you cant look back and see where the engine is trimmed to.
    RUSTY63 in a Shiny Green Jacket.......

  16. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Hickory Corners, MI
    Posts
    73
    #16
    I was searching on the 'net for rebuild tips 'n tricks for the trim/tilt unit and my old thread came up. So here's a quick update....

    Boat ran decent last fall and I put it away for winter. Only problem is that the tilt/trim rod seal is leaking and I was losing fluid and functionality. I ordered up a rebuild kit from Five Star and a pin spanner wrench to attempt the rebuild before I put the boat back in this spring. I got my kit yesterday and the pin spanner should show up Monday. We just had ice-out yesterday so I'm not missing much fishing time. Heck I was just out ice fishing on 5" of ice last Sunday. I have an OMC manual for it so I'll check there first. I was hoping I could find some other information on rebuilding the single cylinder trim/tilt unit. Once I get the hydraulic leak fixed, I should be good to go. Hopefully this year it will be more fishing and less wrenching/wiring.
    Gregg

    89 Astro 18 FS fish n' ski
    87 Evinrude 90 VRO- Blowd up
    84 Evinrude 150 ex-VRO 75th Anniversary
    Merc Thruster 12/24

    2018 Bennington S20 Pontoon "Black Pearl"
    50 HP Yamaha Hi Thrust

    Sea Nymph 16' Fishing Machine
    Johnson 40 HP VRO
    OMC 12V troller

  17. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Hickory Corners, MI
    Posts
    73
    #17
    Another quick update.....
    I rebuilt the tilt/trim last Saturday and reinstalled it on the boat. Everything seems to work fine and no leaks. Disassembly was pretty easy, once I got the correct pin spanner wrench. The OEM one I bought had a 38mm span for the pins and didn't fit any of the three Evinrude tilt/trim units I have. Mine all require a 35mm span for the pins. That's center-to-center. Measure before you order one. I got correct one from 5 Star, same place I bought the rebuild kit. One word of warning, there are a bunch of different O-rings. Some of them don't appear to be the correct size. I ended up reusing one because there didn't seem to be a correct one in the kit. A second warning - the 5 Star kit does not call out the dimensions of the O-rings on their exploded diagram that comes with the kit. It shows all the parts but you can't tell what goes where. I had to find a video YouTube that had a passing glance at the OMC kit instructions and it had the correct O-ring dimensions on its instruction sheet. I took a picture of the video on pause so I could read his instructions that showed the correct size. Then I used a caliper to measure the O-ring diameters and thickness. It should not be this hard and 5 Star should include enough info so you know which O-rings go where. If you take your time you will eventually figure it out. Or you may put the wrong O-ring in the wrong place and have to start over. Overall I'm happy with the results and I hope it lasts a long time before I have to do it again.
    Gregg

    89 Astro 18 FS fish n' ski
    87 Evinrude 90 VRO- Blowd up
    84 Evinrude 150 ex-VRO 75th Anniversary
    Merc Thruster 12/24

    2018 Bennington S20 Pontoon "Black Pearl"
    50 HP Yamaha Hi Thrust

    Sea Nymph 16' Fishing Machine
    Johnson 40 HP VRO
    OMC 12V troller

  18. SC Club Moderator ChampioNman's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Crawfordville, FL/Lake Hartwell, SC
    Posts
    71,260
    #18
    Sounds like you did a good job. Yes there a few different trim systems in the OMC inventory. You more than likely got the spanners for the Fastrac TnT system and not the one for the old style, but sounds like you got that sorted out. Happy Boating.

  19. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Hickory Corners, MI
    Posts
    73
    #19
    Could be. I didn't realize there was a 32 mm, a 35 mm and a 38 mm pin spanner. Live and learn. Hopefully someone will stumble across this post and I can save them a little aggravation. I put the boat in the lake Sunday and took it for a spin. Tilt/trim works great. Time will tell if I got it 100% correct and leak free. I hope so.
    Gregg

    89 Astro 18 FS fish n' ski
    87 Evinrude 90 VRO- Blowd up
    84 Evinrude 150 ex-VRO 75th Anniversary
    Merc Thruster 12/24

    2018 Bennington S20 Pontoon "Black Pearl"
    50 HP Yamaha Hi Thrust

    Sea Nymph 16' Fishing Machine
    Johnson 40 HP VRO
    OMC 12V troller