1977 Johnson 2HP Outboards Service Manual, Page 50Get this manual
7-3 dCarefully the straight off the starter housing so that the spring remains in the housingSee Figure 7-6Jar the housing, bottom side down, fRemove four starter from See Figure 7-7the bench to dislodge spring plate screws and 'plate to remove rope
Figure 7-6
PLATE SCREWS