Saving Old Seagulls

I took my time taking the gasket off and it was cleaner than I expected,, I'm going to clean all the ports out completely to see If that helps.
I also figured out how to remove the bolts from the back of the block, 2 nuts tightened together and gentle on the spanner, I can tell it has been apart everything is coming apart with no trouble, except I can't get the exhaust off, it's stuck tight at the top, I have removed the little screw at the top of the exhaust
2nd pic shows where I am at.

Looking good so far Steve I'd tend to give it a wiggle from side to side and some gentle taps with the rubber mallet it will come try some heat don't think you'll have any blockages in there try going all over the bloke with your blowtorch whilst watching it dry look out for any hairline cracks tell tale is they'll be wet whilst the rest of bloke is dry.....just thinking out loud china

And be careful you don't catch the rings in the way out /in

Thats a particularly good one! The crankcases are often badly corroded around the studs due to use in salt water. That engine has had a very easy life by the looks of it

Oyster 49 wrote:Thats a particularly good one! The crankcases are often badly corroded around the studs due to use in salt water. That engine has had a very easy life by the looks of it

I think so too, every bolt comes out easy and apart from some rusty oil and gunge the parts are only slightly corroded
I washed the rust off the bolts and Gasket and they look ok to me, I am going to clean up the gasket, I read back in the replies and it says Bostic was originally used as a seal, maybe it has broken down with age, I will look on SOS to make sure I use the right type when I put it back together
I just need to get the exhaust off to clean the rest of the head

The original sealant was a thick gooey sealant of some sort. Any sort of semi setting gasket sealant will do the job. No need to put too much on, just enough to fill any gaps, as the surplus will ooze out anyway. A smear on each side of the steel gaskets will be fine.

Don't forget a little copper grease on all the threads too..

Copper grease ordered, thanks
well I can't get the exhaust off, the bolt is seized I tried putting a blow torch to it and still no luck, at some time the original bolt has been changed and the cheap GKN replacement is not up to the job

I did almost burn my B0**0x off though I decided to put some heat on the top of the exhaust and the base of the block, I got it nice and hot with smoke coming out the bore, I didn't see the smoke at the other end til it was too late, FLASH and great balls of fire haha

You have two options, remove the crank from the drive tube or remove the whole gearbox, then you can remove the exhaust either way.
I would use a silicon sealant on the gaskets, just to stop the different metals touching and having electrolytic corrosion problems.

Trouble is Keith that you can't do that to the studs, I wonder if it's possible to get a "thin" powder coating on them, all over, right up to where the head nut sits.
By "thin" I mean a couple of thou, that might prevent/slow down the cancer that affects the stud / crankcase interface.

Re getting the exhaust off, I assume you have a problem with the small retaining bolt that screws the exhaust to the block? You could carefully gring the head off and drill out the remaining bolt stud a little. Then drill out the remaining bolt once the exhaust tube is off.

The clamp bolt (The GKN one in the picture) should come off with heat, but that can be cut also, and the remaining bolt drilled out carefully. Just take your time.

Oyster 49 wrote:Re getting the exhaust off, I assume you have a problem with the small retaining bolt that screws the exhaust to the block?

If it's this little bolt,

it came out really easily
I cheated we have a really good mechanic in the village, they have been running since before I was born, they do the servicing on all our cars, way back before inside toilets they supplied us with paraffin for the lamps
anyway it is with him, I would rather feel the shame than have to report that I broke it.
Oh he is only removing the siezed bolt.

Keith.P wrote:You have two options, remove the crank from the drive tube or remove the whole gearbox, then you can remove the exhaust either way.
I would use a silicon sealant on the gaskets, just to stop the different metals touching and having electrolytic corrosion problems.

I looked at taking the gear box off from the bottom but couldn't see how to do it, I have next to no idea what I am doing

Charles uk wrote:Trouble is Keith that you can't do that to the studs, I wonder if it's possible to get a "thin" powder coating on them, all over, right up to where the head nut sits.
By "thin" I mean a couple of thou, that might prevent/slow down the cancer that affects the stud / crankcase interface.

is that a specialist job, I did wonder if I could do anything before putting it back together to help prevent corrosion
I don't think it will be getting used a lot when it's running and then only in fresh water

EDIT I checked youtube and she says no way can I use her oven

I'd be concentrating on that bolt Steve give it a good heat both ends and force a ring spanner over it worst case scenario is it snaps you'll pick up another collar easy enough

Just looking at your pics Steve of the collar that sits at the lower crank case. Is that a piece of locking wire i see?

Cut the wire first, heat the bolt and it should come apart.

Jon