Marston in the UK

[Adrian Dale]

Hello

The AO has returned to England in its blue suitcase, shipped from Hobart by FEDEX.

The Headdownarseup family travelled from Bristol to Suffolk so Jon could reassemble and troubleshoot faulty ignition.

See video on allegra's instagram account #brunyislandexperience

If someone finds this and finds a way to post to SOS, you have our permission.

Other wise advise us how to load it up on this site please!

Best regards to all, AJ

[pat777]

Looking and sounding great.

Not sure how to embed this clip within the post but here is the link, which will bring you straight to the clip.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVyt-5JgQRb/

[Adrian Dale]

Hey Pat, thanks so much for your help.

This particular AO Marston sounds so much better when running in water.

Cheers, AJ

[Charles uk]

It's an OA AJ & that was an awfully long time to run it out of water without checking the exhaust stub or the spark plug temperature, the bore wall thickness of the series 2 OA is less than 1/4" & they get hot pretty quickly.

The rapid temperature increase from dry running has been known flake quite a lot of oxide from the water jacket/bore wall, please don't do this often.

What ratio fuel oil were you using on your test run as that didn't look very smoky at all.

[headdownarseup]

Calm down Charles. You worry too much at times...

Yes, that really is ME in the video

30 seconds was about all it ran for, no more than that.
I couldn't tell you how much oil was in the fuel. Enough i think... it was literally only a float bowl full (poured in from the top of the bowl) as the inside of the tank looks a bit grubby which i'll have to sort out at some point soon.
You probably can't see that much smoke from the exhaust as it was quite a windy afternoon with a stiff breeze blowing straight into the shed where we were working. Rest assured there was enough oil in the mix. The throttle is probably not quite as well adjusted as i'd like, you can probably hear that from the sound in the video, but as i was under a fair bit of pressure to get this running before we left (we were already more than an hour late while taking this video and facing a 3.5 hour drive back home ) just to get it running again however good or bad it turned out was good enough for me and A-J. It certainly put a smile back on Adrian's face that's for sure.

As for the temperature of the exhaust, it was luke warm after this and certainly not hot by any means, and neither was the cylinder. Don't panic.
The next time i'm over there i will have plenty of time to go right through everything with a fine tooth comb. This was merely to get the thing re-assembled and running again, albeit with a "borrowed" ignition from an SD. The original magneto and flywheel from this OA is with me at the moment and works beautifully now i've sussed out what was wrong with it. (very badly worn points) It's also a bit cleaner and shinier now it's had a light polish too.



I'm having troubles trying to get the video re-arranged from facebook onto here so everyone can see it. Looks like i can't do it from this end.
Maybe Allegra might have better luck at her end uploading from her phone onto SOS.


All in all it was quite a hectic weekend for me with many happy memories. It brings a lump to my throat every time i hear that little engine bark into life again.

There's certainly more to come from this old seagull, but it's going have to wait a few weeks till i can get back to it.
Next time i'm there i will try to get a proper video showing it running in a bin and wearing its original ignition system again. I might even get Adrian in the video somewhere as well.


Jon

[Charles uk]

There are only 2 places where you can feel how hot it is Jon, metal on the spark plug & the base of the cylinder where the exhaust bolts on, the air gap in the water jacket insulates the outer parts of the cylinder walls.

Never mind what it says on the tank, they are best run on a minimum of 10:1!

3 different pistons used in OA's, different in each series, none of which are available & I've only seen 1 cylinder pass through the wish list in 12 years.

Please treat it with respect, no cylinders, pistons, con rods, cranks, gear box end caps, lower units or props are available, so break anything & the wish list gets a windfall of spares.

[Oyster 49]

A lot of people don't seem to understand how fragile these motors are. As Charles says so easy to ruin. I would think hard before even running a marston engine. Think even harder before trying to remove a gearbox cap for example. These are seriously delicate little engines, a museum piece now.

[headdownarseup]

Before i get any more bad press about this can i just put everybody's minds at rest and tell you all that this old seagull will be treated with the utmost care and attention that it deserves. Have no fear of that.

Oyster.
A-J had already stripped the gearbox down and carried out some remedial repairs prior to his stroke. I merely re-assembled everything using the tools that he made himself just for this very job. Not that bad a job to do as long as you remember that there's left handed threads on the end cap. Quite straight forward i thought. Not too badly corroded either, although i was expecting much worse. Definitely an exercise in thinking BEFORE doing.

Charles.
As you mentioned already, the base of where the exhaust attaches to the cylinder is pretty much where i felt it after 30 seconds or so of running, and close to the spark plug. Both areas were luke warm at best, and certainly not hot by any means.
From now on i shall be running this on 8:1 fuel mix (there is no decal left on the tank)
For the immediate future, just to have the motor running well enough to put it to occasional use on the back of a boat for very short runs is my main aim with this. Very carefully of course
I'm fully aware of how fragile most of this really is. Don't keep on!
It's in good hands with me, please trust me on that one.

Adrian cannot do any more of the repair work to this old seagull any more,(he can barely walk or stand, let alone wield a spanner) so he's entrusted its further keeping to me. This will be a labour of love on my part, no matter how long it takes.

The fuel tank will need a complete re-paint. Trying to do something about a decal will give me a few sleepless nights as well i'm sure, but i think i can do it justice. Just takes time and patience.

Jon

[Charles uk]

Most of the Marston fatalities are caused by "experts" who've never touched one before, we didn't want you to find yourself in this situation.

At least you knew the gear box end cap had a left hand thread but you wouldn't unless you'd been told by AJ, because it's certainly not obvious!

Without us "going on" more disasters would happen, sufferers from the "I'm an expert" syndrome cause us the most problems, no one is immune , I still make mistakes, that I put down to old age.

We are aware that this one has done it's share of hard work by the remedial work that AJ had to do, even so 10:1 should be enough oil in the mix & should avoid the lean it out too much problems of 8:1.

[Oyster 49]

Don't underestimate the work required on these engines, if the cylinder is cracked then, all you are left with is a parts donor. CARE, CARE, CARE is the order of the day. Running it on a bench at high rpm is risky, particularly given the apparent lack of oil.

The register have commissioned quite a few spare parts, but these are not cheap, given the setup costs and relatively small batches. Very high quality though

Re decals, I have a couple, to support my own tank restore, but I've not yet checked if they are correct in terms of size, font, colour etc. If not then the only solution is to commission new ones, with the relevant costs of the creating the first off. To do that you will need the right software, and some time and patience to accurately create the artwork. Once that's done there are several people nowdays printing decals for all types of thing from lawnmowers through to classic bikes and cars. This can be done with the provided artwork. If I recall David Sharp charged me £60 for the creation of the silk screen and 2 decals for my FV. This was in 2010 though.

How about you "Do your bit" for the register and commission these decals and hold the stock? I have recently done that for my OG throttle linkage, I made one for my engine and another to hold for anybody else that might need one.

Same applies to bayonet caps, which I have 2 left. I still have not recovered my outlay on those.

[headdownarseup]

CARE CARE CARE, duly noted.

FRAGILE, don't i know it!
RARE, oh yes we know that already.
NO SPARE PARTS TO BE HAD ANYWHERE,yep we know that too.

I've never considered myself an "expert" at all, just that i have an understanding of old machinery like this. I have a passion for very old stuff like this from a bygone era. It certainly gets you thinking very carefully before attempting anything on something like this.(if it aint broke don't fix it)

As for "doing my bit for the register", what do you mean by that Oyster? I certainly don't have vast sums of money to throw at remanufacturing obsolete parts if that's what you mean. I don't think anyone does any more nowadays. I will however do what i can to help.


Rest assured, what i'm going to do to this OA will be a sympathetic restoration with the least amount of dismantling as i can possibly get away with. From the brief time i spent with this last weekend, on the whole it's in quite good condition all things considered. The cylinder had previously been removed by A-J himself and nothing bad was found internally. From memory the gearbox had a small exterior repair to the outer casing to solve an oil leak, and a new bushing somewhere inside, but apart from that it is as you see it now.The drive shaft (which you can't see) has some deep pitting with a couple of small holes which i should be able to fill with weld if i'm careful. (should i be telling you this)
Obviously there's some missing chrome and such like, but this will be resolved in time. A few of the peripheral components don't seem quite right to me, but again in time these will be corrected as and when i can find something suitable to replace it with.



Whilst we're talking about OA's what's with this guy? Is this one of Charles acquaintances, and has he been given the third degree as well

Me and A-J running his OA for 30 seconds seems quite tame compared to this guy and he's running 2 at once with no water to be seen anywhere!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv7Tr_qEnE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufbHoqe76Bs



I'm more into these guys way of thinking. Old things need to be kept in running condition, but sympathetically of course.
Take a look and make up your own mind whether this is a good thing or not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p46N4Tvf6w

There's plenty of other episodes to look at, right up Oyster's street this one

EVERYTHING runs and goes! That's quite a reputation , and why not the same with an old OA. This particular seagull has no idea that it's 80 something years old, it's just an engine after all.

I understand everyone's concerns with these old outboards, but they're soooooo much better when they run once in a while. CAREFULLY OF COURSE


Jon

[Oyster 49]

Wheels through time, the owner of that museum also has a TV show on discovery. "Whats in the barn?" or something like that.

[Keith.P]

Concerns, not me.
I would rather see one running than as an ornament.
I count myself lucky I don't own one, especially being told what i can and can't do with it, I should cocoa.

[Charles uk]

I've surveyed both of these gentlemen's Marstons, both are quite serious outboard collectors & both understand their own strengths & limitations & the same for their motors, compare their smoke & yours Jon.

Both have very impressive collections, if I remember right both have asked for & received assistance from registry members, most people are grateful & listen carefully when you correct their errors, as none of us know everything.

I don't remember correcting you Keith as you've 30+ years experience of working on 2-strokes.

[headdownarseup]

I listen
I read
I ask questions when i need to.
I spend hours on the telephone with other members quite frequently talking about all sorts of stuff. We share information freely between us.

still doesn't make me an expert. I'm always happy to learn something that i didn't know before. Keeps it interesting for me.



As for smoke comparisons, like i said it was a windy afternoon blowing directly into the shed where we were working so you probably won't see a lot of smoke in the video, but rest assured there was plenty of oil mixed with the petrol, you'll have to take my word for it.


Jon