Runs but stops....

[lighthousepix]

Hello,
New member here... I have just been reunited with our family Seagull from the late 1960's. By the list is seems to be a Forty Plus MK 2. It got my daysailer out of trouble many times in the Great Lakes of Michigan (well, one of them).
It's been sitting in our uninsulated cabin for the past 30-plus years, barely being looked at.
After checking for spark (new plug), and ensuring the carburetor float valve was working, I could get the thing running (a great sound to hear again!) by actuating the little plunger-thingy on the top of the carb. It would only run for perhaps as long as a carb bowl-full of fuel would allow. I know the shaft was low in the water on my graceful dinghy but it would start and run for 10 seconds then quit... my 13 year old son (with "a need for speed" was not impressed!). It ran in the 'test tank' fine. Would that make sense, being low in the water, starting then stopping? I thought it just wouldn't start if that were the problem.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
Brian Berdan
Bainbridge Island, Washington, US

[40TPI]

This link below should give you a good starting point to help you out.....Most sensible thing to do after 30 years would be to strip and scrupulously clean the carb + the rest of the fuel system and also clean and gap the points ...............

http://www.saving-old-seagulls.co.uk/fo ... ?f=5&t=312

Peter