Saving Old Seagulls

Came across a seagull with the exhaust on upside down with the holes at the bottom
he wondered why it didn't run very well...
That will be one loud seagull!

The Featherweight is almost ready to start. The carby needed a good clean and I stole the inlet compensator, throttle cable and tiller arm off the free Century. The tiller arm tube was a bit wobbly at the base where it meets the mounting plate. How do you tighten them up? I noticed a groove in the back and tried punching it down a bit, no tighter yet.
I'm thinking about leaving the tank nude like my WS. I know its not authentic and will be berated and chastised for my evil thought
Has anyone living in a hot climate (well it's hot sometimes in Summer here) touched something black that has been baking in the midday sun agree that it may be a bit cooler if I leave out the painting of the tank?

Yes i like tanks not badly dented

bychance wrote:Has anyone living in a hot climate (well it's hot sometimes in Summer here) touched something black that has been baking in the midday sun agree that it may be a bit cooler if I leave out the painting of the tank?

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Must admit I generally only use one gull which has a brass tank, but you are right they would get very hot! Will be interesting to see how hot the Curlew will become with the black plastic tank.

I have an SD which sports a shiny brass tank when I take it out. The shine doesn't last in the salt air, but if you manage to see it on a sunny day (if we ever get another one of those without being lashed by the wind) it does shine well.

Hadn't thought about the heat issue; here in Poole I'm pretty sure it'll never come to anything.

The 40 Featherweight comes alive! It started on the very first pull of the rope! It is running a bit rough if I try to open the throttle wide, I still have to block those extra holes up in the exhaust, but it's pumping water well

Click on this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gW6Mkcmisg

More wheelie bin testing today. The motor idles well, picks up well, doesn't miss but won't run fast. Tried using 25:1 and adjusted the carby by screwing down the needle screw 2.5 turns. I tried going up and down from that spot, but could never get high revs out of it. I dont have a tacho yet but I'm guessing it's around 2,000 revs flat out.
I then went back to the needle screw flush with the top of the slider and used some fresh 10:1. Varied up and down, it liked up a half turn most, but still not much difference, maybe 2,500 revs....
Could be starving for fuel?

I did clean and gap the points early in the resto; I'll revisit that area to see if things have changed.

I initially thought that this motor had a hard life, it may have been neglected, but to me it doesn't seem to have had much use at all. Underneath all the grime I found a tank with few dents, the prop, skeg and mounting brackets almost unmarked and the points area very clean and bright.

Have you got the right prop fitted? I had a similar problem with a FPC with a 40 plus prop fitted, that would not rev. It's very easy to overlook.

The testing so far has only been in the bin without a prop. It should rev out to about 4000 RPM I think (not that I'd leave it there for any length of time).

I would expect when fitted on my boat it wouldn't reach maximum revs once hull speed was achieved.

What about the timing, is that correct? If retarded then the engine would be reluctant to rev. It does sound like fuel though..

I finally got around to ordering and fitting a 25:1 needle. Even with old fuel, the motor now revs out quite well; in a tank without the prop on anyway...

I've still to block some of the exhaust holes up, I'll probably only leave the top one open as it is still approx 1/4" diameter.Time for a test on the back of the boat.

[quote="bychanceOr block the lower 2 or 3 at least with jubilee clips or nuts, bolts, washers (tricky)[/quote]

I would try pop rivets, until you can find a replacement tube.

H-A

Could it be the holes in the exhaust that are part of the problem ? Back pressure is taken into account when designing two stroke engines.
Your large holes will reduce the back pressure.

There is quite an argument amongst the racing fraternity on this subject, some favor big holes & some none at all, & both seem to have done a lot of testing, perhaps it doesn't make any difference.

While it was runnning I blocked the lower 3 holes with my fingers (thick leather gloves on) and the only difference we noticed was the reduction in noise; revs didn't change or the change was so minimal we didn't notice. It seems to be performing well or as expected.