Saving Old Seagulls

I got the engine onto the back of a sea scout rowing boat this evening. Same quick start up and pumping water very nicely.

However the engine runs well at higher revs, but when it slows to tick over it tends to die. In particular when slowing down to engage the clutch the engine stalls as soon as the clutch is engaged. Tickle it again and it starts easily. I suspect fuel starvation, so I will whip off the carb and investigate. For early running in I am using 8:1 and the carb has no inlet cowl or trumpet currently fitted. Could this combination make the engine run too weak?

I will refit the exhaust clamp also as per Charles' advice to stop the clutch jumping into gear. It does it all the time, not good when you turn your back to untie the boat

So a bit more tweaking to do

I had a look at the carb tonight, and discovered that the float needle was bent

The holes in the float bowl cover were also blocked with crud, so I got the whole on the operating table for a full strip down. I suspect the float was sticking in the "up" position, which would explain the lack of response from a tick over, until the tickler was pushed

I'll give it another test at the weekend. I also fixed the jumping clutch problem by re-positioning the exhaust clamp. To engage the clutch you know have to move the lever sideways first.

Before and after pics. Thanks to all who helped, particularly to Jan, without his help obtaining various parts, the engine would still be in bits.
and to H-A who always knows how to mend something . Also to the 2 Charles's for the history lessons

I'm definately hooked

Now for the SD meet. How does the third week in august sound?

I got the engine back on the water this evening. Running a lot better, but there still seems to be a fueling issue, as I still have to tickle the carb quite a bit. I'm going to try another carb next.

Running down the canal, the engine seems to attract every bit of weed around. Blocking the water inlet is the first sign! Lifting the engine right up also helped avoid the weed.

Also several nuts, including the water tube fastener and exhaust clamp came loose Good job I had a spanner in my back pocket.

However the good news is I've obtained a complete SD bottom end that is standard shaft, so I will refurbish that to avoid having to chop the shaft.

Best bit was going past 2 guys walking the towpath who stopped me to have a look at the engine

A very good job Oyster.
Nice combination with the boat.

Its finished (well nearly) scavenged some parts of another 102. Sloped some fuel in the tank turned it over by hand turning the fly wheel opened the throttle to a quarter and. It ran first pull I cannot believe it after working on what was described by my workmates as junk for nearly a year.
I have a running peace of English heritage. I would like to thank all who kept me sane through this and those who motivated me to keep going most have contributed on this thread. Now to sum up how much its cost, well apart from blood, sweat, and polish absolutely nothing!

Now i must turn my attention to the new workshop. If i build it big enough may be i can finish Ricks 102 barge pusher project i fear may have a terminal coil problem.


All the best
Graham

Brilliant job Graham Really looks the part. I bet you are very pleased

Now for the SD rally. I will confirm the venue is ok to use, and firm up a date. Who can make the around the third week in August? Assuming all is ok, venue would be Long Eaton, Derbyshire.Junction 24/25 on the M1. An alternative would be Red Hill Marina close to East Midlands Airport on the Rive Soar, but I have not checked that out yet. More to follow.

Big question to chop or not to chop that is the question. Next one is how much if you do ?

That's boat dependant Graham.

I've done the deed on my SD, reduced down by 5 inches. Takes some weight off and it fits in the car a lot easier I still have to raise it abound 3 inches on the transom bracket though. That puts the engine at about the right height whilst running.

There's plenty more of these engines out there. Lets see some photos of your SDs

I was contemplating fitting my SD to my inflatable. I even have to raise up my 40+ by 50-60mm. To make the engine more useable may consider the chop. What would you do? Chop or not.
5" -7" of chop may be required will this deprementaly affect the running ?

Chop, they look a little better shorter.
Then use it.

H-A

Keep it original. One day we might be able to decipher the engine number to know which should be long or short and if they are not matching the value will drop. With English WW11 machinery becoming more collectable they will appreciate.

Of all the Seagull models that I have seen the factory dyno reports for, there is a difference, the short versions of the Silver Century & the late model 102 have around 5% less power, on the Kingfisher & the 170 it was about 2% less.