Steel Head and Base Plates

[Polybus]

G'day Guys - I'm just having a bit of a Brain Fade. I disassembled a Fourty quite a while back and I've now got most of the parts I need and reassembly has commenced.

The question is.....

The Steel Head and Base Plates.

One obviously goes between the top of Crank Case and the Bottom of the Barrel/Water jacket.

But I'm not sure about the other - one would think it goes between the top of the Barrel and the Head, but of course the Head Gasket goes in there as well. Do they both go in there? Is the order Top of Barrel, Steel Head Plate, Copper Gasket and then the Head?

If that is correct - what is the purpose of the Steel Head Plate?

I've watched a number of YouTube Videos, and they only put the Copper Head Gasket in there. Is the Steel Head Plate Required? Is it there to seal the Water Jacket?

Thanks in advance for the info. By the way - I have attached a couple of photos of the items I am calling the Steel Head and Base Plates.

Head and Base Plates 2.jpg (6.04 KiB) Viewed 4683 times

Head and Base Plates.jpg (6.01 KiB) Viewed 4683 times

Cheers.

[Charles uk]

Can you give us the engine number from your 40 so we can let you know if it's a model that requires the steel gaskets.

[Oyster 49]

The steel plates are used between cylinder and crank case, and also as a head gasket. These were fitted to the little 40 engines only, so early F, (Only a few known) FV, FVP and LS engines in particular.

As Charles mentions below, its always best to state your engine serial number, so we know exactly what you have got.

[Polybus]

Thanks guys - yeah, sorry, my mistake. Its a bit like blindfolding you then asking you about my engine.

Here are some photos.

Someone has obviously been at it, because I don't think its a Long Shaft any more.

If you'd like to see some photos of it complete (well, rather as I received it) check out my seb site.

https://myshed.mooo.com/Outboards.html

Just click on the British Seagulls Icon and then Seagull Serial Number LS27327L

Old timers may get a laugh out of the pictures of the Water Jacket. having battled similar ones yourself - less experienced guys (like me) may be shocked at what you see.

And perhaps everybody will be shocked at the mating surface of the head - huge chunks of it have been eaten away - I have simply given up on that and bought a new one - although I may try some experiements with JB Weld, to see if it can fix it - I suspect it may work in the short term, but the heat will degrade the JB Weld - I'd welcome any other suggestions for an experiement.....

Cheers.

[Oyster 49]

Like your blog of the LS strip. Yes, the water jackets do corrode a lot if used in salt and not washed out after every use. The steel studs react with the heads and cases. Tip welding and machining will bring them back of course.

[Polybus]

Yeah Oyster - you're exactly right.

The steel studs were a mess, as you can imagine living in all that crap for decades. I like to reuse whatever I can, I like the thought of keeping things as they were from the factory, but the the steel studs were beyond salvation, they were so deeply corroded, I had no confidence they would hold up under the tension of being torqued down. And even if they did, they would have given out before too long.

So I went crazy on a lathe.....

[Oyster 49]

Nice job