MercuryMarc wrote: Spend the extra $600. You are only going to do this once.

I agree completely!

Spend the extra $600. You are only going to do this once.

Still waiting for funding to arrive, but after considering all suggestions on this site I will be getting the 25 Suzuki short shaft, remote steer, power tilt. I can't justify the extra $600 for the 30 Suzuki consider limited use. Trying to get the most bang for my buck and feel this is the way to go.

Not sure if remote power tilt is option or if you have to jump over seat to press button?? Anyone know??

Thanks guys,
Phillip Henderson

Thanks a lot. That is really helpful.

Here you go, I will try to cross reference this to make sure to will fit your 82 model.

EDIT: There were two styles of these air boxes, both will fit up to your carb, they have different support bracket locations.
The earlier one would be my choice.

Johnson Evinrude 25hp 35 HP Air Silencer Air Box 388916 0388916 OMC 1977-1978 Completed


391337 0391337 Johnson Evinrude 1981 Air Silencer Assembly 25 35 HP 2 Cylinder Buy It Now

There isn't an airbox on the motor. If I were to add one and add better quality sound deadening material, it might make it easier to tolerate. I got a great price on a beautifully restored Johnson gas tank. I'd rather not break that pair up. I'm gonna try again with it next summer and see how it goes. Thanks for the information.

One item to note about your 1981 35 HP OMC, it's HP is rated at the flywheel, the later (1986 & later) motors are rated at the prop. The rating on the 35 HP OMC was dropped to 30 after 1986.
Does your 35 still have the air box on it?
The intake pulse is most of the noise on those motors however some of the newer sound dampening materials work much better than the old foam that was originally on the inside of the cowling.

Thanks, Jeffery. I think you are right about giving Johnson another chance. While it's 24 years older than the boat, I think it looks better than a modern four-stroke would look on a '58. I've gotten used to mixing the gas. It doesn't seem as inconvenient as it did when I first did it. I got frustrated this summer when it failed but I may have those headaches behind me. If it proves to be expensive to maintain next summer, I will consider a new motor. I don't think I can go lower than 30hp. It's a lot heavier and beamier than a Feathercraft. I'd also have to replace the steering if I were to get a modern motor.

My experience removing the Suzuki restrictor plate is described earlier in this thread. I would not expect the 25 Zuke (with or without the plate removed) to match your 35 HP motor, assuming both are properly propped and rigged. My DR goes 28-29 MPH with the 25 Zuke, and Vagabonds go about 27 MPH with it.

The Zukes ARE beautifully quiet. At idle you can hardly tell it's running. I did find that replacing the factory aluminum prop with a stainless prop made the motor quite a bit louder at idle, with more vibration (which I fear means the stainless prop is not balanced very well.) It IS very convenient to just fill up the tanks at the gas station and be done with it. I have my DR with the four-stroke Zuke and a pontoon boat with a 60 HP 2-stroke Evinrude. But as I think about it, I think the main difference between the two is that the DR is on a trailer, and the pontoon lives in the water. Adding oil to the gas is not really that big a deal. Getting the gas to the boat is the bigger hassle. The fuel economy with the Zuke is really nice; I get about 15 MPG when cruising around at 3/4 throttle.

As an aside, I got one of these things this past summer for getting gas down to the pontoon, and I like it:

www.overtons.com/flo-fast-10.5-gallon-fu...nal-pump-321980.html

I vote that you give the Johnson another chance.

I should probably give it another summer before deciding to buy something new. By the end of the year, it was running fine. The compression is still good and it is cosmetically excellent. Thanks for responding.