Saving Old Seagulls

Human error guys. I'm going to put it out there that the serial number perhaps should read something like SJM661K5 or M5 if we're thinking it was made towards the latter part of '65 What got stamped into this SJM (i think) nearly 53 years ago was probably an honest mistake from the guy who did the s...

Depends on how much of a purist you are when it comes to bringing an old 102 up to par. You could literally be quite anal about restoring an older 102 to absolute perfection (not to mention quite a lot of time tracking down some elusive parts) and yet not many people would be able to tell the differ...

Perhaps this boat is unsuitable for a seagull.

No, come on Charles. Explain to us why the letter L in an engine's serial number to some folks appears to be wrong somehow. In this particular instance i see nothing wrong with Bruce's featherweight, nor the serial number stamped into it. The letter L very clearly is a letter L that hasn't been tamp...

In a roundabout sort of a fashion, maybe

Well, if the letters "L" and "I" weren't used, then how do you explain this one Chas.? The letter "i" i can say with a fair amount of certainty i've never seen anywhere in a seagull serial number. The letter L can at times throw up some confusion it has to be said, but ...

Charles. Why wouldn't an SD be good enough to power Hugo's boat? It won't be fast i grant you, but definitely maneuverable. I think you underestimate what a good 102cc seagull is actually capable of. It's not all about going fast either. I have a similarly large and heavy boat, although a single hul...

Try fitting your impeller to the opposite end of the shaft where there's less corrosion and a tighter fit.

Worse case scenario will be a new driveshaft and impeller, but try this first before you go spending money.


Jon

I think there will be some irregularities with the identifier. Charles has mentioned this quite a bit in the past. All depends on where you look as well. Look at this http://www.britishseagullparts.com/identification.htm The fact that Bruce's serial number has the letter L in it does suggest his fea...

Right up my street this 8) Tank supports (generally) for post war 102's seem to be nickel plated, much later on maybe being chrome plated as far as i can tell. Clutch levers (generally) seem to be aluminium, although as has already been mentioned at times certain parts might overlap. Bronze clutch l...

Question for you Bruce.
When do you think your SJM was made?

I would say 1965, but i'd like to hear your side of things first.

Jon

I use one similar to this one and works perfectly well in any seagull. It also has adapters for smaller or larger plug holes so plenty of options. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Draper-37442-Petrol-Engine-Compression-Tester-0-300Psi-0-21Bar/190587846667?epid=2125854699&hash=item2c5febc00b:g:wFgAAOSw...

There's something about a little gull that i find quite charming. I have SJM210 (circa 1955 vintage) which also is surprisingly smooth compared to my bigger gulls. Runs really sweet too, dare i say it probably better than some of my 102's which i have a fondness for. I hope it runs better for you th...

Same with a lot of my old flock. For absolute peace of mind a new plug is sometimes (not always) the way to go, although i've never had any trouble with using older "period" plugs in many of my 102's.They work a treat, and being able to take the plug apart for cleaning only adds to the ple...

Apparently a fairly common spark plug back in its day.

A lot of my older 102's have this same type of spark plug, along with the pink coloured Lodge equivalent.

Jon