Saving Old Seagulls

Finally breathed some life into the engine today! After opening the points as they seemed to be closed all the time, it breathed a little life when I sprayed some engine start fluid into the carb.

After looking in the carb again, I had missed that a small jet screw was blocked, and poking through ...

I have already opened the casing, removed all the gunk and it was turning easily by hand a few weeks ago, so it has seizd up since then. I left it upside down with fresh oil in the gearbox but this did not appear to improve things. I may try turing it upside down and turning the engine over, maybe ...

OK so I have reassembled, although with the existing carb that has no choke plate, unfortunately the bearing that hold the smaller gear in the gearbox appears to have seized up, so it is very difficult to turn. The engine itself turns freely by hand but to turn the prop I have to put a ratchet in ...

Yes I was a bit unlucky, but learnt alot about 2 strokes and engines in general, and if I sell it fully working I will probably about break even, and had a fun project.

Any issues if I fire this up briefly without any of the base attached? Without any water I will run it only briefly, so it does ...

So I tried to true up the two halves on a lathe, but for whatever reason it still did not turn when bolts pinched up. I am just annoyed at having been defeated...

Anyway, I have purchased another pair of castings, that appear to run freely, I will begin assembly tomorrow, and see how far I get, I ...

Yes I have the baseplate off now. When I assemble the crankcase with the bolts fairly loose, the crank spins freely by hand. When all the bolts are done up it can only be turned by attaching the dome nut to the crank and turning with a socket wrench.

I have sanded the inside mating surfaces of the ...

Ok I managed to remove the flywheel by heating it a bit and then just dropping it onto a concrete floor.

With my new crank installed, it looks like the crank cases are distorted, it will spin freely until I tighten up the bolts that hold the two halves together. Also it appears the crank has no ...

Progress!!!


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I have managed to undo the screw, in the end it had become stuck in the top non-threaded part, so I changed tack by using the impact driver with the screwbit missing, to push the top half downwards and break the seal. Still required lots of blowtorch ...

I ran into a small problem in that my shiny new impact driver fouls on the pinch bolt fixing, so I bought a socket extension for it. Although my socket set has a 1/2" drive handle, it has only 3/8" drive extensions. I decided to go for a second hand Proto branded 5" extension as I thought this might ...

I believe some panelbeating hammers have a scroll shape on the face and as you hit the metal the scroll shape encourages the metal to move into the middle of the dent, and reduce the surface area slightly. I am not sure if this would work on a much smaller scale though.

To repair the tank properly ...

I hacksawed the gasket but chose not to cut through the screw, I can now swivel the gear casing halves slightly. Hopefully the oil can now reach the thread a bit easier, as I sprayed it through the gasket gap.

I have also cleaned out the waterways on the cylinder, Do I just need to give this a good ...

I have purchased an impact screwdriver, which is in the post. I guess the removal of the top makes access to the screw a little easier, especially hitting the impact screwdriver directly.

If you need any help or parts, I'm just up the road from you.

If you want to try and get the flywheel off after the Easter weekend I would be more than grateful for the extra pair of hands. The hammer I have is not really up to the job...

Bit of progress today, I found that with the piston at BDC I was able to pull the cylinder away from the crankcase, allowing me to separate the engine from the leg. Separating the cylinder from the exhaust tube was then easier.

Still no luck with the screw in the gearbox, but as the gears seem to ...

Well after more fighting with the screw I think I need to get hold of an impact driver, still no movement.

The replacement crankshaft arrived today, it came with a conrod attached and appears to be in very good condition. I will probably use this conrod, in case the one inside the engine currently ...