ESC vs CPCL

[bruce nickerson]

I just acquired an ESC with a frozen piston (see my previous posts). Have tried all the remedies suggested here: Soaked the cylinder/piston in kerosene (you say parrafin?) for 3-4 days; bashed top of piston; put head back on and tried the hydraulic pressure/grease gun remedy. Nothing happens. What next? Keep soaking? Piston near bottom of stroke but intake and exhaust ports not exposed. I can see both rings in exhaust port. If I fill cylinder above piston with penetrating oil, the oil leaks out past top of piston but VERRRRY slowly. Suggestions please?

I have a CPCL with all parts needed for a complete motor. Can I put this power head on the ESC lower unit?

Would prefer and ESC with AMAL casrburettor for a tad more power.

[40TPI]

Yes you can fit the Century Plus power head on the late Silver Century leg if you want. Total interchangeability at that interface. But you might not get what your heart desires or your intuition suggests. And the serial numbers won't match the resulting bitsa. That may not be of importance.

The CPCL has a 48:12 gearbox and with the correct prop puts out "4.5 to 5.5 Seagull HP". The later ESC /Model 75 clutched Silver Century has the 30:12 gearbox and only produces 4 Seagull HP. Although it has a nice AMAL carb it is not a Silver Century Plus with 48:12 gearbox. You will arguably get more bollard pull with the CPCL in original form. Three to four days soak would seem to imply a lack of patience to some. A longer courtship may prove more fruitful! Some wait at least a month..... with a little more soaking you could end up with two fine motors. ( Excessive piston percussion may cause unnecessary damage.) In the meantime you could indeed temporarily mix and match power head and leg to get your hull moving if the CPCL power head is serviceable.


Peter

[Charles UK]

Try the grease gun again, with a good lever action grease gun.
It will only move till the exhaust port opens, then rock it backwards & forward until it moves without too much effort around bottom dead center.
Don't try & move it over top dead center you might scar the bore or the piston.
Then strip the powerhead, clean up the bore, piston & rings if you can't find a cylinder hone use a scotsbrite pad, the piston rings & their grooves must be clean & crud free but handle them with great care the rings break real easy.

[twostrokenut]

Bruce , as has been hinted , I would tend to leave it soaking for far longer.
Past experience has taught me that impatience leads to frustration and some broken parts here and there.
Try putting the power head in a bucket of diesel , and immerse the whole lot for a minimum of three weeks , and as Charles says re-apply the grease gun method with a good quality lever type gun.

Andy.

[Charles UK]

Bruce there is one other thing you could try if you can't be bothered to wait.
I put a couple of table spoons of diesel in the cylinder inserted the spark plug with the grease nipple on it & then holding it with the spark plug facing straight up, put the air line on the grease nipple & put 100lbs of air into it.
This didn't move the piston but diesel & air came out of the exhaust & inlet port, I then did the same with car engine oil, still no movement.
I then undid the cylinder retaining nuts & beat the piston out with the largest piece of wooden dowel I could find, nothing broken & bore not scored.

Getting angry is perhaps not the best way of doing it, but it worked for me.

[mick r]

Cheap Cola is a good solution !!

I pay about 20pence for 2 litres, put it in a bucket, and submerge siezed bits in it.

Leave for a couple of days, clean off and most parts come unstuck.

I used to drink this stuff, till I saw what it did.

PS NOT the diet stuff, as it does not seem to work.

Regards,
Mick.