Saving Old Seagulls

Firstly, id like to say, what a great site! My dad has had a gull lying on its side in corner of garage for 12 years. He was going to give it to a neighbour. i took it to my garage & didnt know where to start or what i was even looking at. lol. He had engine runnin when he got it but couldnt get it to go again so had givin up.
I tried turning flywheel & even with a big socket & bar,, it would move a mm. Thinking that it was gonna need a full engine rebuild,, i went on ebay & after a few online searchs,, i found this site,, WoW! Since then i have found tank full of dirt,the gauze in fuel tap blocked, carb was full of sludge, points are filthy & gear box was completely dry of fluids & full of sandy dust. I filled the card inlet & spark plug hole full of oil & penetrating fluid & let it lie over saturday & sunday & got piston moveing today with a few sharp taps through plug hole. Compression feels good when turning. All this with the information ive been reading here. Many thanks all
Im now trying to source the fibre washers for Amal carburator. 5 in total. All are badly perished. I need 1 for between carburattor & engine block. 2 for the bolt that screws into bottom of carb & lastly the washer that slips onto brass fuel line fitting of other chamber. (if im making sence?) lol
Based on tips from site, im gonna wait & see what way she pumps water cos cleaning the chambers sounds like a big job for me. Is this a wise decision or should i tackle it sayin engine is getting a good overhaul?
Lastly, is there any there parts in the shaft mechanism that can be greased or oiled cos i havent dismantled any of the leg, just the rear lid at back of gear box?
Many thanks

Stick the hose into the water outlet and see if water comes out the gearbox end. If so you are on your way.

Will try that surely. Will lets u's know when i get her running. Notice i said "when" & not "if" lol. Also has anyone ever tried copper washers in place of the old fibre ones?
Thanks again, S

Have you checked which model of seagull you have-elsewhere on this site will help in that respect.Avoid taking off the head if you can possibly help it -EVERY time I've tried it (even with patience and care ) I've managed to shear at least one of the head bolts.If carbs are new to you its no harm to take a mobile phone Photo or two during the process of taking them apart -it helps re-assembly .Don't loose any of the parts-the needle grub screw in particular will wander off on its own if left unattended! Another thing I've found is that you could scrupulously clean out the entire fuel system from tank to jets then find two days later that its full of black floaty crud again-don't ask me where it comes from!Good luck and I can assure you of a great sense of achievement when an apparent piece of marine junk starts to sing to you!

Welcome to the site! When you get the chance, consider updating your profile and add in where you are in the world.... it's always a curiosity as to just how wide spread this disease is, the fooling with old & leaky outboard engines.

Concerning your question about the driveshaft and lubrication, there's nothing between the bottom of the crankcase (powerhead) and the gearbox that takes lube at all. The connecting device is a square shaft that indexes onto the driveshaft output and the gearbox input.

The gearbox certainly does take gear oil of one type or another depending on year of manufacture and this site will help with that. If the front dome was still on, I'd say to fill it with Diesel fuel or kerosene and give the flywheel a dozen or so stiff pulls with the spark plug out, then let sit for a day, week, or as long as you care to do so and give a few pulls when you're bored. Drain and fill with regular motor oil & do the flywheel spin maneuver. Finally, I'd drain that and then level it off with gear oil to the spec for your individual engine http://www.saving-old-seagulls.co.uk/i_ ... eagull.php. This method is a bit subjective; the point is to wash away any crap that's dried up, accumulated, built seals or dams where they don't belong, went solid, etc etc.

It's quite entertaining and enlightening to perform a search http://www.saving-old-seagulls.co.uk/forum/search.php to see what's been covered before, not that this applies in any way to your question here. You'll learn so much overnight and you'll also get a few laughs along the way! May I ask what kind of boat you'll eventually use with your new-found outboard engine?


Thanks for joining!

- Ted

Updated profile. Im in Northern Ireland & Lough Neagh is my testing pond. lol Checked the model,, its a Silver Century 1969, S1800B9. Old girl has seen more life than me! lol

Soz, boat is just a little 12 ft open fishing boat. Not sure of the make cos its very old.

Ronnie1 wrote:Soz, boat is just a little 12 ft open fishing boat. Not sure of the make cos its very old.

Hi, Ronnie.

The Silver Century ought to do just fine on a 12' boat, wood I presume? Either way, I bet one will barely have to bring up the throttle on that one to get you going very solidly on your lake.

I could get used to a place like yours...


Back to engines - working on these things methodically and patiently can become a sort of Zen-like experience. "Be one with your outboard engine" and all that. No, really. So many of the repair techniques you're learning about or which you're going to learn, will translate to many other disciplines. For some, it starts up an obsessive/compulsive habit that's difficult to overcome and I fear I'm falling into that trap even now.

There are those here who need to enroll into a 12-step program but we can learn a lot from their experience.


-Ted

You can get any of the small parts you need from John Williams, linked through this site. He is prompt has fair prices and reasonable shipping. Is always helpful with info as well. The first steps in having your motor run properly are making sure you have good spark, [clean the points thoroughly] and a clean fuel system [remove tank, fuel tap from tank, pour out whatever you can, put is some gravel coarse as well as fine, dish soap, hot water, shake, shake, repeat with clean water. Then clean rest of fuel system till spotless as well.