fixing two Century (or at least one)

[Romainpek]

Hello to all,

I bought a lot composed of 2 Seagull century, and I'd like to fix at least one of them, possibly two.

The better looking one is serial WPCL869A0 , which means made in January 1970.
Not too corroded, I started by cleaning its ignition (that at some time had been colonized by insects doing little clay habitats, kind of weird).



I did the drill trick to recover power and I obtained quickly nice sparks.



So everything was advancing fast when I decided to check and clean the whole gearbox/clutch part at the bottom of the unit.

1) first problem, it seems the drive shaft won't separate from the gearbox, is there a trick to separate them ? I can see a pin through one of the water vents but it must be hell to remove and replace.


2) second much bigger problem, the propeller shaft is bent (not sure if you can see how bad it is on the picture).



I cannot push it up as the bend won't allow it to go through the bearing, I cannot push it down because there is the "clutch disk" firmly attached to it



Any trick to remove this clutch disk ? Could I straighten the shaft without damaging the bearing and the case ? Or should I simply saw it off and get a new one on ebay ?

[Horsley-Anarak]

1) first problem, it seems the drive shaft won't separate from the gearbox, is there a trick to separate them ?

I use some heat from a propane torch to warm up where the square tube meets the gearbox, then get a bit of 8mm (5/16") round bar (stainless if you have it) about 50mm longer than the drive shaft. Get it hot then hold drive shaft and bash the rod down the middle of the square tube with a good sized hammer, it should free up the gearbox input shaft.

Prop shaft remove the pin from the collar, so that you can remove the collar. Then the prop shaft can be removed from the gearbox casing, you might need to visually straighten it a bit with a hammer so that it will go through the bearings.
Do not loose the thrust washer or washers. Prop shaft can be straightened if you can pop it in a lathe with a dial gauge, or buy a replacement they are not expensive.

Keep the photos coming they help a lot in assessing your issues.

[Charles uk]

Can you post a picture of your Wipac flywheel showing the top face.
Is that a big window wipac Alan?

[never-outbored]

Looks like big window to me charles

[Romainpek]

Thanks,

For problem 1, I will try the bashing method explained by Horsley-Anarak

For problem 2, should I saw the shaft off, I saw on ebay the following :

British Seagull Outboard Silver Century Plus With Clutch Crown Gear & Prop Shaft
11,99 GBP

Delivery
ETD: July 27 – Aug 6
Standard Int'l Postage
28,79 GBP

The postage costs will kill me... any cheaper alternative ?

I will take some pictures of the flywheel for Charles if he's interested

[Horsley-Anarak]

Thanks,
For problem 2, should I saw the shaft off, I saw on ebay the following :

just try and straighten it, stick a bit of tube over the bent bit and bend it straighter it does not need to be perfect to get it apart.

then you can assess the damage better.

[Romainpek]

Here are the pictures Charles UK wanted





Are the windows the right size ?

[Romainpek]

I will now exhibit my second Century engine which, except for its straight propeller shaft, is everywhere more battered than the 1970 model I showed you before.

Its serial is CPCL2066E6 meaning it was made in May 1966.

Very dirty,



the crankcase extension holding the tiller is broken,



the exhaust pipe blackened and deformed,



the gearbox is stuck, so is the clutch.



I tried in vain to open the gearbox, all the 3 metal screws are stuck, and so is the plastic plug !!! How could that plastic part be rusty? Do you have a trick to unscrew it without destroying it all ? I do not dare warming the sides to remove the metal screws if it's totally airtight and full of oil...

[andrew]

On the plastic plug, a good pair of pliers/grips around the outside of the plug will be enough to break the seal (counterclockwise) without damaging it. The screwdriver grooves on the end generally get chewed up with age, and can be hard to use as you have seen.

If you do mess up the plug, new ones are cheap and widely available.

[Romainpek]

the only good news recently: I managed to separate the drive shaft from the gearbox on the 1970 Century, using a moderate bashing. I could not warm it as earlier advised as I would have melted the impeller.



The inside of the shaft is clogged by a dirty black sticky oily material. Is it supposed to be totally hollow or is there a partition in it ? (more or less where the impeller sits).

Here are some views of the clutch part of my 1970 engine. It seems to be made of brass, the clutch is working fine, but there is a big crack in it. Probably a future failure soon...




Looking at the same part in the 1966 Century, it seems much better designed and stronger too (even if totally stuck for the moment)



Even if I manage to retrieve the 1966 part to put it on the 1970 Century, I will still be one piece short. Are these easy to find ?

[Romainpek]

So, nobody knows about that one ? Is the square driveshaft of a 1970 Century (long shaft) supposed to be hollow all along or is it supposed to be partitioned near the impeller position ?

If it should be hollow, I must still remove lots of stuff which is blocking it inside...

[andrew]

I believe all driveshafts should be hollow.

In my experience it’s usually the bottom of the shaft that gets clogged up. I always assumed that this is the work of gravity over time. A very long drill bit will loosen the rust etc out of the center of the shaft.

[Oyster 49]

Yes, the drive shaft is hollow. It has just filled up with rust and other dirt. If you push a long thin rod through you will be able to clean it out.

[Romainpek]

Thanks for the tip, I will try to find the proper thin rod to clean it.

Surprise, trying to remove all the black soot on top of my 1966 motor exhaust tube, I found yellow metal. It seems the tube is made of brass instead of aluminium. Does it match the year of construction or was it a replacement ?

[never-outbored]

Exhaust tube is chrome on brass from seagull, doubt it was a replacement. “Soot” you were talking about was probably pitting in the chrome, by removing it you have removed the chrome layer instead of just any top layer dirt.