Questions on Johnson Golden Ghost and Quietflite sleds

Current garage project for me is a '85 Manta. Given to me by old friends widow. Parked since '93 . Motors running, everything was froze up, slowly got it to move under it's own power with ignition jumped out. Brake work is ongoing now. manta 11.20.jpgmanta 11.20.jpgmanta first spin.jpg
 
Here's a rear view when I was pulling carbs for cleaning. 530cc Arctic Cat motor, Comet drive and Polaris driven clutches. These were built with a mix of different mfgrs. parts. Even some John Deere stuff in it.
 

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I pickednup a few parts yesterday. Two primers, some extra 1157 tail light bulbs and an o ring kit that has what I need for a carb rebuild.

My evinrude started acting up a bit at the end of last season. Almost like the crank seals were leaking. The idle would rise slightly and then drop. Recently it would go to 4000rpm and require the neutral lockout on so it wouldn't take off.

I looked into the carb mouth and see the tell tale signs that the main jet onring is beginning to fail. There is some fuel leaking out the carb mouth and with the butterfly closed, no fuel should be sucked out while running.

Hopefully get it torn down and cleaned today.
 

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Ripped the carb off. Filthy outside but the inside was spotless. Ultrasonic bath and a new o ring. The old o ring looked great, still pliable and plump. Reused the hi low settings of 1.5 low and 2.25 hi. Will install it tomorrow.

Installed the new primers. They seem to work. Nothing fancy.
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After some decent riding I decided to pull a plug and have a look.
 

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A little dark but safe. Best plug check is a wide open run then shut it off and check with out idling. Sometimes it takes a pretty good run to get plugs to color up by burning off deposits. We want the high speed to be on the rich side which is the safe side. Too lean and pistons burn. Lots of experience on that in the past younger days foolishly looking for the maximum power LOL. Idle mixture it's adjust for best idle, too lean will not hurt anything on idle just idle quality. Temperature is a big factor on the high speed adjustment. Warm day always will show richer than same adjustment on a cold day. Fat and happy is always better than lean and mean. Lean burn downs where common back in the day that's why sled mfgrs. went to fixed jetting in carbs. and provided temperature/altitude charts under the hood.
 
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Got the Manta brakes fixed, found a rebuild kit for the old school go kart master cylinder and cleaned/freed the caliper. New ignition switches and no more jumpers to get it running. Bulb junk box provided a new headlight and taillight so high/low and tail/brake are working properly now. Glad I still had a 1157 laying around and a old H4 bulb.
Greased all the idler bearings and new sliders installed. Now it's replacing all coolant hose clamps as I've had a few rusty ones pop loose. And I have to cut the old ones off as even soaking with Kano they are frozen solid and can't risk heavy twisting on them.
 
Thanks for the tip on the plug. Next time I get a chance to ride I will take it for a good rip and then check the color.

Glad that manta is coming along. Thats one cool old machine!!!

I have a few stops tomorrow, looking to source a new ignition switch and then call around a few old shops to find some NOS belts.
 
To keep this thread going, I dusted the sleds off since parking them in March, I believe. The Evinrude fired right up and idled fine after a few primes.

The Ghost fired up but was slow to fill the clear fuel line and then would not fill the carb. Ripped the carb off, which tested good. Looks like the pump needs to be cleaned and tested.

In the process I ripped off the wired switch on the carb. From what I read it retards timing when the throttle is closed, a runaway safety. Its just a simple switch, throttle closed and their is continuity. Soldered the wires in and just need to heat shrink the tubing.
 

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Well I inspected the pump, it was clean and not stuck but bone dry. Put new clamps on the impulse and used some white grease on the gasket sealing surfaces. After a few primes she cleared, filled the carb and came to life. A shake down went awesome. I will run the tank down, refill with fresh mix and then check the tune.
 
Got both running nice but always issues. The throttle switch I fixed on the Ghost started to heat up and possibly fry. I unhooked it but get some weird revs when cold and trying to idle. Once up to operating temp it seems to idle fine. I might rip the whole switch apart, sealant and all.

I suspected a leak on the Evinrudes chain case. Looks to be cover gasket, thankfully not the shaft seal. She was bone dry but the dampness was under the case, not the shaft. Got the cases topped off and reverse boxes are good.

The Ghost received the battery from the lawnmower and the electric start worked decent but the new primer doesn't seem to work now. But, with new lights installed, it really kept my voltage in check. Will see how long the bulbs last.
 
I found my Evinrude was riding lower than my Ghost and also rougher. After an inspection I see I have some worn and broken bogie suspension springs.

The broken spring looks original but the companion spring looks aftermarket. I will need to pull another and check the angle as I think I found some substitutes.

As crappy as it is to have them break, I found out how simple the bogies are to tear down and it never hurts to inspect them and grease the pivot points.
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Hopefully you can find new springs.
I use a fine needle grease tip to inject synth. marine grease into my suspension wheel bearings that aren't too ''loose'' in my sleds.
Even new bearings as they have hardly any grease in them. Waterproof marine grease lasts longer in those bearings and if it's good enough for boat trailer bearings it's good enough for sled bearings.
 
Thanks for the advice, I think giving everything a little grease down is a good idea. I can see why marine grease would be preferred. I will inspect all the bogie wheel bearings as well.

Now, for the springs..... I have found some potential alternatives. It looks like the torsion springs are quite prevalent... in many applications. There are some for old Elans and Moto Skis that may work. They have a little can't between the spring ends while mine may be mostly straight. Regardless, I can work with that. Also, talking with a ranching buddy, he said try baler pickup tines. I found some online that I might be able to modify on the cheap. Next time I'm in town I will pop by some agg stores and have a look.
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Part of why I am looking at alternatives is time. Ordering from the US will take a while, cost a pile and I have some family that will want a ride around Christmas. Need to use some ingenuity to get her running.
 
Since its been ungodly cold this winter, I have been passively looking at springs and have a few buddies looking.

Put a few miles on the Ghost yesterday and used it for chores today. Having a bit of a snow storm so I hooked it up to the tobaggan to feed some horses.
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