I had a little Johnson too Brian....and went with the enhancement program to a BIG merc ! LOL
Had a 4 hp merc as a kid, on our wood lory that my brother built in around 68 or so. I started it and drove it easily at 6 years old. It received no maintenance that I'm aware of and the thing is probably still running like a top where ever it went. The 9.8 merc I found in the corner of the boat house, in 2004, looked like it had been thru WW II. Filled the bottom end with oil, put some gas in the tank and 2 pulls she ran like a top...had to order a tilt pin for it and by serial number I believe it's a '76 model.
Based on everyone's Merc experience here on OFC and my past knowledge...I've gone back to Merc big this year. 275 Verado and 9.9 Pro kicker.