Right after I submitted this question, I happened to find a knob that has 2 little screws you can tighten down on the brass knob. I’d LOVE (and I’m sure everyone else would to) to know where I can find these to buy. It works perfectly in this (and I would imagine, all situations like this one). Grabs the brass, doesn’t slip, and doesn’t matter what shape that brass knob is. Basically ends all needs for any sort of adhesive, and any need to replace either the brass or the plastic.

It is sort of like the screws you use to tighten down the glass fixture which goes over a ceiling fan. I can post a picture if people are scratching their heads, and I’m sure someone will know a place to buy these. I have come across a couple of these randomly in ‘parts bags’ from motors I picked up over the past 8 months, and this if the first time I put 2 and 2 together, as they say.

Eliminates all the headaches of re-engineering a design that was more complicated than necessary.

I noticed the same issue. That spring really tightens things down. Depending on the condition of the motor sometimes I leave the spring off. Sometimes Ill leave that circlip off of the back side of the needle too. There should be one on both sides of the needle to stop it from moving in or out of the control panel, & making the knob fall off. The outer one is very small, easy to lose, & can be tricky to install at times if servicing the carb.

I think the outer one is more important because as these motors can shake a lot at low speed (especially the pre ’67’s w/o the vibration dampeners) the vibration will knock off or break the knob and/or choke lever. Forget it if the rubber mounts are on their way out. I even will remove the plastic square grommet on the choke lever orifice just to give it more leeway.

I have to say, last week I mounted at ’64 johnson powerhead/exhaust/gearcase into a spare ’71 lower/upper cowel. The ’64 did not have the updated outer exhaust bypass cover to allow for mounting to the ’71 vibration dampener, but on the carb side it could be used.

Even with just a single dampener, it made a pretty large difference.

I also had to teardown and replace the crank due to a stuck driveshaft. Talk about a full teardown just to get at the starboard side taper pins. The intake manifolds and leaf plates are totally different depending on the year too; Im impressed by how well the motors run based on just how far the fuel has to wrap around before entering the crankcase/cylinders.

No wonder the choke has to be fully closed to get these motorsto pop off initially.

I know the 9.9/15’s will NOT start without a closed choke, but even those don’t have as complicated of an intake manifold.