Seagull Restoration

[W6oody]

Hello Everyone

I will post an introduction in another section of the forum, but to cut a long story short I recently bought a 10' Dinghy and subsequent Seagull in order to re-live my youth on the River Cleddau. My bargain purchase can be seen here:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 82&alt=web

That's right I scooped it up for £26 and collected on Sunday. The engine now sits in my garage awaiting some TLC. My original plan was to ‘patch-up’ the engine, have some fun with it this summer and then do a depth restoration over the winter, however whilst collecting the engine the seller had a 4hp Evinrude 2cy outboard as well that I picked-up for £40. It is complete, except the lower cover, I have given it a good once over cleaning the carb out etc and I am awaiting 2 plugs to give it a pull. If this engine works then the time pressure is off regarding the Seagull and I can do a ‘proper job’ from the off - Hopefully that all makes sense.

I plan to document and discuss my ‘project’ on here as I go along, as I feel I will need lots of help. I have lots of experience working on cars, in motorsport and I am an aircraft engineer, so hopefully the fundamental skills are there. I also have a reasonable selection of tools (excuses to buy more always welcome of course ) but what I don’t have is any experience of working on Seagulls.

So – Question 1 – What information would members on this forum need to best help me, what should I particular attention to in my day 0 survey? I can measure, photograph, describe etc and then hopefully between us we can come-up with a list of areas/items that need attention.

The ebay add is pretty accurate, the big problems seem to be the replacement (plastic) fuel valve is snapped, the fuel tank may have a pin hole leak and the bracket (part of the engine face – is this called the head?) that holds the fuel tank has snapped.

I am really excited and enthusiastic about this project and really look forward to any advice, guidance or even interest. Long live the Seagulls!

Regards - Woody

[W6oody]

Also, could anyone suggest any books/manuals etc as bed time reading? For those that haven't followed the link the engine is a 40 Plus mk2.

Regards - Woody

[Oyster 49]

Hi that looks like a fairly standard forty plus, the fuel valve is not correct, you should have a brass or chromed brass one fitted.

Look forward to more pics, we like pics on here

[headdownarseup]

hello WOODY and welcome to the flock!
as ADRIAN said, detailed pictures tell a whole lot more than trying to describe what you're doing.
with any restoration, it is very much down to the individual how they want to restore their motor.
some of us on here are a sad bunch really when it comes to originality (if thats your thing) but we can all help in one way or another.
some have also repaired quite successfully what others would throw away!
fuel tanks seem to suffer the most second to corrosion on the leg.
everything else can be repaired fairly easy. it just takes time and patience.

first things first, have a look in the forum at what to do and what to check for when you first get your seagull.
loads of info to read through. pretty self explanitory really, but as you have experience with working on cars, a seagull should be a breeze by comparison.

look forward to those pics!
jon

[W6oody]

Thanks for the replies so far. I spoke to John at SOS yesterday afternoon after my post and ordered a Workshop manual and Parts List. He also outlined the things I need to check before deciding if the engine is worth spending money on. I plan to use the engine on the Wye and Severn so any rebuild will be functionality rather than cosmetically minded. I too prefer to use original parts an maintain authenticity, tempered with common sense of course (people that spend years looking for a screen washer bottle with the correct date mouldings for their concourse cars are nuts in my opinion!).

Photos and videos to follow soon.

Woody

[W6oody]

Sorry for the delay in uploading an update, in summary life's been hectic and when time I've had in the garage was wasted trying to get the damn Evinrude I bought running. Desperately don't want it to turn into a money pit, so it's abandoned in the garage whilst I have a re-think. On the plus side, it means I've started looking at the Seagull.

I have taken lots of pics, and will upload in next post, but in the meantime I thought about going one better and starting a video blog on youtube. I don't have a very good camera or lights but hoppefully you'll get the idea. Feed back welcome on video and engine.

Links here:

http://youtu.be/eEvWFsiKds0

http://youtu.be/AiJfYcMMSOY

Cheers - Woody

[headdownarseup]

so far, so good.
all fairly typical condition after many years of abuse.

2 schools of thought with regards to the broken cylinder head (tank mounts).
you can either weld it back up. probably easier if it's removed from the cylinder(not such a bad thing to do as the waterways will probably benefit from a good scraping/cleaning anyway)

or, just replace it with a good second hand replacement.

either way, it looks like a major strip down of the powerhead will follow.
another excuse to carry on removing the crankcase from the cylinder to get to the piston/rings etc. all easy stuff really.

dont be put off by bashed up tanks.
theres a couple of vids floating around somewhere on here that show how to remove an end of the tank, not quite so easy putting it back together though.

half the battle with getting hold of an "unloved one" is trying to get it to spark. i've only come across 1 wipac ignition that was dead, (much more common on the villiers magnetos to go open circuit on the coil, but the wipac's are pretty good)
carb's are easy to clean(especially now you've got a manual to work from)
by the way, the carb is missing inlet cowl.

spinning the motor up as you've done in your video will not harm it in any way (except maybe give it a shot of oil inside the bore to reduce friction)
you could spin it all day and not damage the impeller. (just dont actually fire the engine up for more than 30 seconds at a time at 1/3 to 1/2 throttle)
it should say in the manual that you can do this.


look forward to seeing some more video blogs.
good job so far, keep it up


jon