Thomer Loc: Alexandria, Mn

Reaching out for some advice. I came into possession of 3 “vintage” outboard motors from the late FIL’s barn.
One is a mid 70’s 6.6 hp Johnson, 2nd is a late 60’s 5.5 Johnson, the 3rd is a 20hp Evinrude of unknown year.
I brought them to a local auto/ marine shop last fall with a request for an “exam” and his opinion on repairability.He said it would be a winter project. I’ve used these guys before and have been satisfied with the work they’ve done.
As I hadn’t heard from him, I swung in when I was in the area, just to see. Much to my shock, his employee, when I asked about the motors, brought out the repair slip for all 3 motors, totaling over a thousand dollars!!! He had never called, and we had definitely discussed that I didn’t want to spend a ton on repairing 40-50 year old motors.
Looking for your thoughts on how to move forward, or congratulate him on “his” new motors!

craig fisher

The exam was most likely tearing off the carbs and cleaning or replacement and normal maintence would be lube and ignition check and spark plugs maybe impeller replacement. To check all these items takes a lot of labor and if you got three motors back in running condition its worth it. pay him and thank him.

OJdidit Loc: Oak Creek Wisconsin

If they run, they are worth the money he wants.

troyfrd1 Loc: Hampstead,NC

I agree with both. Vintage is the key. Your FIL and the fact you have all 3 running. Shake his hand pay him and walk away. More than likely if you refuse to pay he will keep the motors so you lose everything. However with 3 and what they had to do to get them to run had to have took some time .

nutz4fish Loc: Colchester, CT

Thomer, I checked and discovered that the population of Alexandria is around 15,000. That may give you some advantage when or if ya decide to confront this guy. Word of mouth is very good, or bad, in a community of that size. One option would be to just pay up & then help karma along for him after the fact.
Or ya could just try to convince him to lower his price. Or .....?
I don't know the procedure or the ease of him getting a mechanic's lien in your state, but it's easy here, and then you might forfeit your property, and end up paying for storage as well.
I would pay him & sell the unwanted motor(s), but only you can make the call on this.
Good Luck 🍀.

Thomer Loc: Alexandria, Mn

Thank you gentlemen for your quick reply’s! As a retired carpet layer, I have little to no knowledge of anything mechanical. It was kind of a sticker shock to see the repair ticket! If I deduct the cost of the used gas tank he bought, puts the repairs an approximately $300 apiece which isn’t awful but still money I don’t have laying around.
Again, thanks for your advice. I will work it out! Steve

harleypiker Loc: WA

I ran those old Johnsons back in the late 50s and 60s and always trying to start them and then constantly fiddling with the carb adjustment on front trying to get them to idle down. Frustrating. If he will keep them and call it square, I'd put the thousand towards a new honda or yamaha. Smooth running and ultra quiet. My Honda only stalled once on me. I was sitting on the rubber gas line!

bapabear Loc: Blaine, Washington

At today's labor cost, that is only 3 hours per motor. If he got the old motors running and pumping water well in three hours (actually less considering the incredible cost of parts these days) it sounds like he is a good mechanic. It appears he also kept the cost down, as I expect in really he likely spent more than a full day and parts on the three motors combined. In today's market $1000 is keeping the cost down. He also saved you waisted $$$$ just for inspecting the motors to determine their repairability. I expect that would have been close to $500 as the inspection would have taken some mechanical work including removal of plugs for compression test and removal of lower unit plugs to check for water and the removal of pull start to access electrical parts. That with set up time and freeing up old stuck bolts would take more than an hour per motor. Sounds to me like you got a deal.
You should have been more specific about how much you considered a "ton" That is just my opinion. I don't expect mechanics to do time consuming diagnostics for free. It their experience and time you are paying them for. Otherwise you could do the work yourself.
If it is more than you wanted to spend, just sell the motors and recover your expenses. Bite the bullet, learn a lesson and except that you should not have gotten the fifty plus year old motors in the first place if you are not mechanically inclined. Good luck with your decision. You should also buy the mechanic a cup of coffee for even being willing to work on motors that old. He was doing you a favor. Again, that is just my opinion.

mnranger Loc: Central MN

The sad fact today is shop service is running $100-$200 per hour. The shop should have been franker about the fact that the "inspection" or whatever we call it would come with costs, and $200 to $300 per motor would not surprise me today just to have them looked at. (Estimates are not free any longer.) Once they had them looked at it was cheaper to fix them than put them together again. (He should have called though.) Pay him and enjoy those motors!

mnranger Loc: Central MN

Estimates are not free any longer. While he should have been more upfront on the cost of "evaluating" you need to understand that would come with a cost. 3 vintage motors running for a grand, sounds like he was fair.

Anybass Loc: Pa.

Tomer, all good pcs of advice adding my 2 cents. First problem I see is not being more specific about what an inspection without repair would cost. Then a fair, educated estimate about cost to repair the normal things that might be an issue with the old motors. Those would have been good starting points re possible costs. Do some research as to how much each of these motors might be worth. Then ask him what he thinks each of the motors could get in private sales or through him. With some figures $$ in mind, see about selling all, keeping one and whether you made some money after repair bill or lost some. 2nd and 3rd sentences should have been your key. Good luck.

tippycanoe2 Loc: MN

I'd let him keep the motors , Put the money towards a newer one. He should have called you before he started the work.

NorthMoccasin Loc: SW Virginia, sometimes east central Florida

Keep the motors! They will give you good service. The older ones were built to last.

pete d Loc: munster in

i would pay him take the motors and sell them my brother is a marine mechanic and our first boat had a 1956 johnson 35hp long shaft with ecetric start, always started and ran like it was scared great motor he loves reviving those old motors be gave me one with a top tank 2.5 hp no reverse you turn the whole motor backwards again fired rite up ( lookes like a big blender) im sure someone with a small boat and budget would enjoy them good luck

E.pa.al Loc: Martin's Creek

I agree,he should've called. I think u can sell one of those motors & just about cover your costs. JMO
Overall it's a fair price