Saving Old Seagulls

Haven't played with the bing but with the others I remove from the motor and blow into the fuel inlet with first the carb upright and all going well you will feel/hear the air passing through and then turn the carb upside down and see if the needle valve is shutting the air off ie you can't blow through it. If it is closing (blocked) upside down you know the needle and seat are contacting well and it is then a matter of level adjustment. If you can still blow through (no doubt at a reduced level) you can concur that there is a problem with the valve seating.

Cheers, Hugo.

Hi Chaps,

silly question, but why would you want to pay up to 3 times the price that I sell the same bits for, when you are already on my website Forum?

Rubber prop shaft seal £3.99! they are £1.00 here! Manual £24.99!! they are £11.50!!! What a shark... I have virtually all Seagull parts, Bing as well and can normally sell cheaper than even British Seagull themselves, as I do not mark up prices to the full price. (And have you seen the P&P prices charged by some!), because I do this mostly for fun!

Sorry you are having a Bing problem, these little carbs are German in origin and there is also a large USA agent that I see you have found. If all parts scrupuliously clean, no traces of fuel gum or dirt, they normally are very good.

One note of caution, if you still have the square shiney air intake cover, tie it on! It is the only part no longer available, and they sink when the vibrate off!

Regards,
John
SOS

John,

The engine that I bought did not have the entake cover, but I was able to find one at an antique marine shop. I know they are hard to find. I will tie the thing on some how I definately don't want to loose it. Do you sell the float for the Bing carb. Do you think a new float would fix my problem. See attached picture of my carb with fuel running out. Every once and a while it works fine.

Hello there,

I think it much more likely the fuel needle is not seating correctly, it has a rubber tip and it can get particles of dirt embedded in it, if it has and a toothbrush, (hers not yours), won't clean it, then I have new float valves. A good clean with a proprietary carb cleaner, available in any car accessory shop, might help.,

Regards,
John
SOS

Among other things, I used to service generators and because of the constant vibration, the garb float needle would fail, it was one of the most commonest part to fail.
Would always end up replacing them, as they would never seal right.

John,

I just installed a new float valve and a new float pin. Did you see the photo I sent after the installation?

I I don't think dirt is the problem. I've had that carb apart dozens of times in the last month. I guess I could buy a new carb, but now I'm on a quest to find out what the heck is wrong with this one.

Hello There, just sold my last Bing carb body, but think i can get more if needed, or try Bing in the States to save postage.

Wondering if the fuel valve seat is damaged.

If you phyically remove float chamber then hold up float and turn on fuel? If it will not seal when lightly raising the float I would go straight to the needle and seat.

good luck,
John
SOS

Today I discovered the problem with the eratic fuel level in my Bing carb. The issue was not dirt, worn float valve, bad float valve seat, float rubbing against the inside of the float bowl, bad float pin or any of these issues. There is a vent that purges air from the bowl when fuel enters. This vent was corroded shut. The trapped air pocket in the float bowl was not allowing the float to raise high enough to shut off the fuel. I opened the orifice with a 5/64 inch drill turning it with my fingers. Problem solved. I have two Bing carbs (1977) this opening was corroded shut on both units so I am assuming this must be a fairly common occurance. The orifice was reached by sticking the drill bit into the opening next to the float where the pencil tip is shown in the picture. I am suprised no one has had this problem before.

I've never seen this problem/answer before, the "vent you've cleaned out" is the opening that ensures that the float chamber has unrestricted access to the outside air.

I doubt that that cleaning this vent will have cured the problem you showed, with the fuel pouring out of the carb in your earlier post, prove me wrong & bring a smile to lots of faces, including mine.

Possible reason for nobody having this problem before could be the relative scarcity of Seagulls with a Bing carburettor. They were only produced for a couple of years - 1978 and 1979 - when total Seagull production per annum was down to a few thousand.

During this thread I have pondered on the fact that I have never owned one, nor has anyone brought one in for repair. Maybe people here in Poole already had their Seagulls by the late seventies...

Never come across this one before, and I do see lots of Bing Carbs! Fail to see how it can effect the leak though? If it does I will go through the dozen old ones I have to see if I can replicate the fault.

Well done for spotting that vent was blocked!
Regards,
John
SOS

I cut a slot in an old float bowl so that I could observe the float, put a wine glass over top of the bowl and allowed the fuel to run. The float did not move. With the vent blocked the air trapped in the very top of the float chamber would not allow the float to rise high to shut the fuel off. Fuel continues to run can't displace the air in the top of the float chamber so it pours out of the throat through the jet. I guarantee it. Why else would there be a vent?

I am assuming that with the good chamber in place the float lifts and now closes off the fuel?

I have looked at 7 Bing carbs and not one if them here had a that vent blocked with any sort of corrosion... So now you have cleared the Vent it works correctly?

If so, well done, another wrinkle sorted for Seagull owners! Certainly an odd one.

Regards,
John
SOS

It works perfectly in my basement. I will run it on my dingy this weekend. I have every confidence it will run fine. I will give you a report when I return.