Craigslist Pontoon Boat: Engine Upgrade

[@josephm40]

I owe a lot to that old Evinrude 40. You taught me how to service my E40TLESR like a pro. VRO removal, reseal lower unit, everything else DYI. Hard saltwater use on my Bayrunner aluminum skiff. Should run forever with proper maintenance. Thanks for all you do.

[@samtate1260]

I love those older Johney rudes grew up on the Kankakee River on 25 hp evinrude back in the 70s great video 👍🏻

[@josemeza7002]

Is this Parker?? Need to get me one of those waterfront plots before they’re gone! Thank you for all you do. Rebuilt a 93 Johnson 40 all based on you’re vids. Dad and I are back out on the water making memories and landing hogs. Can’t thank you enough.

[@BrandonsGarage]

So expensive! 110' of water front raw land just sold near my buddies place for $800k He has something like 25 acres of waterfront, I can only imagine what that lot is worth now.

[@mattj65816]

I could tell it was a 125% performance increase just by watching the video. I believe you’re spot on.

[@dagger4146]

You must be near Topock, my Sister and brother inlaw live there. I have been following your pontoon boat restore video's and they are of great help. Restoring an old Lowe 185 and should be laying down the deck this weekend. Have the carpet and plywood, trim and fencing removed, finishing the stripping today. Looking at upgrading the 48SPL but the boat is rated at 50HP. Greetings from the Space Coast !

[@BrandonsGarage]

yeah, not much gain going to a 50. just add power trim to yours and call it good.

[@BrandonsGarage]

and you're correct, near topock, its a 30 min car ride away.

[@Xpyburnt_ndz]

I've got pretty much that same motor and am looking to replace it with a 4 stroke for my boat. Looking for a 90 - 100 hp 4 stroke. Too many places are going to 4 stroke only, so guess if I want to boat, need to adapt. GRRR...my motor is a Johnson 1988, 88SPL and runs like a top. Been VERY well taken care of. I'll bet it runs cleaner than some of these 4 bangers out there too, but living in CA, they want control over everything and everybody.

[@watercool5]

Nah a two-stroke dumps 1/3 of the gasoline right out the exhaust without even being burned. Simple and elegant, but very dirty.

[@chuckstith838]

Move out of Ca

[@sirjustis]

I have been waiting for the Johnson 90 video for a long time!!! Thank you :) i need to go outside and work on my 85 javelin

[@OffGridOverLander]

Are you relatively close to Lake Mohave? Your videos look like you’re down in Havasu or Bullhead. I just need some help retuning my carbs on my Force 125

[@AgTires4295]

Have been waiting for the launch with the 90. Glad to see it went so well! I have the same outboard on a 21ft Sun Tracker and WOT is about 23mph. I'm sure the upgrade feels like youre screaming on the water compared to the 40.

[@BrandonsGarage]

Funny you mention it, I actually call it a race potoon now.

[@jrhenry24]

Great video. Why are you going to change out the ignition coils?

[@DougsMessyGarage]

Hey Brandon, looks like a pretty great upgrade. I noticed you have water coming up over the stern at higher power settings. Would raising the motor a notch or two help with that? I have a similar issue on my '84 24 foot toon with a 100 Yammy 4-stroke and was wondering if it would be worthwhile moving it up a bit. I also get a wet spot on the floor at the back end of the couches but I suspect that is due to the bow spray rails having done battle with an old scissor trailer before I bought the toon. My spray rails will need a little TLC before next run. Thanks for the great videos.

[@ct1762]

the issue with pontoons is the aerated wake... be extremely careful about raising the motor because its very easy to get water pressure to drop and overheat the motor. the wakes are sloppy... leave the motor as deep as possible.

[@BrandonsGarage]

Doug, he isnt wrong. With the 40 HP, and the engine up one hole, it would cavitate frequently. I do want to raise the motor one or two holes to see if it fixes the water problem. However, another fix is to have someone in the front of the boat. Its drops the bow down just a hair, and no more water coming back in. There are a lot of thing I want to try to fix it, however seems whenever I get some free time a 30mph breeze comes through.

[@DougsMessyGarage]

@@BrandonsGarage Hmm, this sounds like a good topic for a video that either one or both of us should do.

[@donparker8246]

I didn't think the Evinrude to Johnson swap would be too bad. My Dad worked at Johnson Outboards in Waukegan and he said those 90 horse motors were some good ones in the late 80s and early 90s.

[@robertshelton3796]

Hows the water level at your part of the river right now? Is that why you're launching on dirt?

[@okramw1]

Those engines are terrific, if you take care of them they will last for many many moons.

[@zbarnes6241]

Great videos. Keep them coming. I'm in the process of bringing a old 120 hp vro 1986 back to life. It's been setting for 8 year's. Currently needing a carburetor. They don't make them anymore. So I'm trying eBay etc. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[@kevinfriend3514]

Did the 90 HP bolt to the same location of the 40 HP

[@BrandonsGarage]

Heck yes.

[@kevinfriend3514]

Okay thank you I'm doing the opposite I'm putting a 40 horse replace of the 90 for being broke reasons LOL

[@unsaltedlife5998]

You can let the air out of the tires to gain the few inches you need.

[@tallaheist]

What size prop? Been following this build from the start, great job! Just swamped my 40hp mercury for a 1985 90hp evinrude! Thanks you've helped a lot. Even used your brp controls wiring video!

[@mikebelcher6692]

swapped ny 50 for an 85. with 14x11 prop mine wont turn past 3400 rpm. Ordering a 14x9 to see what this will do. Any advice n did you have to beef up the transom?

[@RossmanGarage]

Wow dude the boat looks amazing compared to when you bought it lmao 😂

[@mercmanwon]

Did you upgrade your fuel storage with that V4? You’re going to need it. I put a new V4 on my pontoon and it used more fuel in 1 weekend than the 4 stroke I replaced it with does all season. 2 new motors in 1 summer.

[@danesworld]

Have though of turning it into a shanty boat/ fishing shack

[@justinmiller2439]

Is that 40 for sale

[@xaviercruz5328]

Great video…… I hate to be this guy …. I’m wanting to do an upgrade on engine size I have a 24ft tracker party barge pontoon with a 115hp power tower ,,, now what I found is a 225hp engine now that’s what I would like to put on it is that possible and if it is how would I go about it would I have to do any special or different or upgrade anything ????? any kind of help would be great 👍🏽 thank you

[@BrandonsGarage]

That is a huge upgrade. I would check the HP rating of the boat first. Enging weight may be pretty close between the two, but thrust is much, much higher.

[@xaviercruz5328]

@@BrandonsGarage The boat is rated for 115 hp But it has an upgraded aluminum transom it’s not made out of wood it’s made out of aluminum

[@danielrobert7181]

Looks like your motor is mounted a wee bit too low. You'd be amazed of the performance (lower fuel consumption) would derive by lifting that motor about 3 cm.

[@hjc5458]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@-Viceroy-]

That engine sounds so happy at WOT! Did i hear a miss fire in one cylinder at low to mid revs?

[@davekimbler2308]

Big big difference I’d say ! Lol. Nutten runs like a Yohnson ya sure ya-bet-cha ! Have you ever heard the song Yanking on my Johnson ? If not ya got to , it’s on KZbin ! Funny as heck ! Did you notice the transom flexed when you put that motor on ? If not watch it again !

[@Squadz554]

I recommend not beaching your boat cause it can damage the bottom.

[@brandonmedina5883]

Looks like Needles

[@BrandonsGarage]

Some say, it is.

[@jacobpittman1775]

To stop your Biminis from shaking like that you need to add braces