Saving Old Seagulls

Is it safe to assume that the Villers carb that came on the EFPC has the needle for a 25:1 mixture?

It was built in 1981 and had a blue tank.

Well, were does the time go? It moves fast... 60 minutes an hour, I'm told. Its hard to believe I have tinkered with this on and off for a year and a half now.

Today was raining... in fact, its been raining so much lately here in Virginia that I may consider moving back to the UK if it keeps it up ...

I did not make much progress over the past month on account of other obligations. But I am back at it again!!

Here is the '60s vintage block primed and almost ready for a coat of gloss black paint. I'll be using VHT High Temp Engine Enamel paint. It bakes on in the oven for a very hard finish ...

The very old head gasket is steel, as was evident by the magnet sticking to it. I'll reuse the copper one from the EFPC. It looks to be in very good condition like the rest of the motor. I will anneal it first, though.

Here is a picture of the heads from each. The older one on the left (SJP) has a ...

Good idea on testing the head gasket from my '60s SJP with a magnet. I'll do that as soon as I get back. My guess is that it's a steel one.

Is it safe to assume the copper one is better? Probably better heat transfer...

Now would be a good time for more pictures.

Can you show us the cylinder from the SJP and the heads, gaskets, mating surfaces.

I would feel that the copper one is the one to use, unless I am missing something.

H-A Will do, but I will not be back to the house until Monday. To be concise, I am not ...

Helicoil was factory fit, I would use that heads with the bolts not the cross heads.

I find that forty plus engines with the villiers carb start better. Also you can tune them by adjusting the needle.

You may want to convert it to the 25:1 needle, to cut down on the smoke.

The Amal carb is OK ...

Awesome - I am on the right track, then.

Here is the latest plan for my Frankengull:

Lower unit, crankcase, and bracket - using the EFPC
Block - from SJP (EFPC's was cracked)
Head - not 100% sure. The one from the EFPC is clean and uses hex bolts but had some sparkplug thread issues in its ...

Indeed - all kinds of good info.

To clarify something on oyster's response, the original ignition that came on the SJP is not pictured (and is a different style as well - three spokes, not two). That is the one that is shot. A bad mag - an open when measuring the resistance of the coil. The one ...

Seagull have been building this series of motors for over 50 years, if the lack of spring/lock washers was going to cause a problem, I think it would have happened by now!

If I remember right only the drive shaft retaining studs on the base of the crankcase, are ever fitted with a spring washer by ...

Sorry for all of the questions about what fits what, some of them seemingly redundant, but I could use some more insight, this time in regards to the ignition.

The plate and flywheel on the left was obtained when I thought I would resurrect the old SJP (the original magneto was shot). The plate ...

Seems like good advise on both accounts. Thank you.

Is there a rule of thumb on when to and when not to use lock washers on Seagulls?

It seems that many bolts on my Seagulls do not have them. For example, only flat washers on the head bolts and the 4 crankcase bolts. My oldest motor had lockwashers on the two bolts that hold the block on, but ...

I can help with postage as my other half works for a well known parcel courier and gets substantial discount. Let me know and we can sort it out...if you need any parts sending from the UK that might be heavy and expensive.
Wow, that is a generous offer. Thank you very much!!

As it stands right ...

Similar - mine was a bit darker and finer, but that must be what it is. I'm sure glad I didn't decide to forge ahead using that top end