Help Identifying Model/Serial Number Confusion

[rschiff]

I ordered paint for the rebuild and noticed it is a different shade of "holiday bronze" than the motor. Motor seems more purple and paint seems more red…Started looking into my knowledge of it being a ’57 and the serial number is #1675806 which doesn’t appear to be a 1957 FD-11 on the serial number charts, but more likely a 1958 FD-12. Problem is, it says FD-11 on model/serial plate? Can someone shed some light on this? Is there another way to determine the year? Lower unit is from a much more recent motor so this thing was sort of band aided together when I got it.

Thanks as always

Robbie

[frankr]

Look at the serial number plug on the powerhead. It is a round "freeze" plug about the size of a quarter. It sounds like you may have answered your own question. Parts get matched and mis-matched together all the time. The stern bracket with the data plate may have been changed. The ’57 models had a much different color scheme on the hood than the ’58. White sides on the side of the ’58 hood.

[garry-in-michigan]

Mimicking automobile manufacturers, outboard builders started building next years models in November. They thought this encouraged customers to buy outboards as Christmas presents. It also filled the warehouse with motors in anticipation of sales during the Sportsmen and Boating Shows in January and February. First outboard shipments went to south Florida in hopes of catching any bugs that had sliped through factory testing

. . . . . . 😀

[lotec]

In addition to a different "Holiday Bronze" color for 1956, ’57 and ’58, there was a tremendous range within each year. The process was not as ridgidly controlled back then as now and there were big variations. This could depend on how often the pot was mixed, who did the painting and it’s even possible they were mixed by eye!

I have a bunch of ’57 and ’58 Johnson motors and (within each year) every one of them is a slightly different color. One factor is that the cowls were typically painted the accent color (white) first – so, depending on the paint thickness, it can make the Holiday Bronze on the cover a lot lighter than the block and leg. Also, 57-8 years of oxidization can make a difference too! I emailed with Peter McDowell about this years ago. He tried to find the best examples of each year and mixed the paint to match – but he conceeded that the range was vast and he could only do so much….

Here’s my "closet" AD that was reportedly used once and then spent almost 50 years unused and in a bedroom closet. There is no doubt this is original, however, the color on this is a lot more red than many other ’57s I’ve owned or seen. If you look closely in the photo below you can see the color difference between the hood and leg – this was due to the white accent color having been painted first under the Holiday Bronze:

[wiscoboater]

Like the others have said, I have a basement full of holiday bronze Johnsons from 56 to 58. No two are exactly the same in color. Another thing you will notice if you put a few side by side is how much the decal placement varies. Some are 1/4" off the cowl fin, some are an inch. Some are real level with it, some are crooked. The motors and the paint were mass produced in a hurry. Even back then S–t happened.

[Mumbles]

After nearly sixty years, I have found that all of the original paint on the ’56 – ’57 Johnsons tends to fade or age to a maroon type of color. The ’58’s had more of a bronze tint to them and don’t do it as bad. If you are trying to paint a part with new color correct paints, there’s no way you can expect it to match the original paint on the motor. The only way to get a good match would be to have it custom mixed and tinted by a competent auto paint supply shop who can also add flattening agents to lower the gloss. Good luck!

[chinewalker]

I’ve said that for years. As a judge at ACBS and AOMCI shows, I’ve always given a fair bit of leeway on paint color choices. As long as they’re not painting the motor purple with pink polkadots, I generally go with what they have if they’ve kept the "spirit" of the original.

[rschiff]

Thank you all for your detailed responses! They were great and very informative for me to learn about this motor and the paint differences! Truly appreciated.

I just checked the plug and the serial number on the powerhead plug matches the serial number on the mounting bracket plate, which begs the question, why does the plate say FD-11? It it was in fact a serial number for 1958, shouldn’t it be a FD-12?

[rschiff]

Just a pic of the differences in color. Impressive!

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