Thanks for the great response, Cam! And it certainly wasn't babble. :-)

As a matter of fact, the engine is a refurbished engine, meaning tune-up,
impellor change, new paint and decals, and just about everything else short of
a complete rebuild. From what I understand this was done in a one man shop and
the guy rebuilds or refurbishes OMC's all day long. I haven't been able to
reach him so he hasn't been much help.

Considering he has a garden shed packed full of spare OMC parts from various
engines, what you say makes perfect sense. Who knows what he put into that
outboard to make it saleable. I had the same suspicions about parts from
various models being combined into this engine and you've confirmed my
suspicions.

As for the model number, it's definitely J130, not 120, and I understand he
sold the motor as a 1989 130HP. He even has the big Johnson 130 decals on the
cowling and the bill of sale says the same thing but no serial number.

Someone had emailed me and suggested that perhaps the powerhead was made at the
OMC Belgium plant and found it's way into the US. I know this is possible
because I have a Yamaha outboard that was manufactured for the European market
and nobody in the US can make sense out of the serial number. (TWO oddball
motors, what kind of rotten luck is that!)

So at this point I'm not going to worry about it. If I need a part, I'll just
take it to the dealer and try to get a matchup for it. That shouldn't be too
difficult, as OMC's have a lot of interchangeable parts.

Thanks again for your help.

Regards,
Dennis