Saving Old Seagulls

been reading up on the forty plus seagulls of which i now have two,
got one running sweet as a nut but the second engine i'm still struggling to get to spark.
what i want to know if anyone can tell me is 'can i use mark 3 or 4 electronic ignition on a forty plus ,are the parts interchangeable or do you have to change the whole lot,ie ,baseplate,coil,mag or can it not be done at all.
just seems a good idea if i'm buying more bits changing to a more reliable elec' ignition may be the way to go.
thanks for any replys .
frank.

All of the later ignitions will fit.

Even the CDIs. I have fitted a CDI on a 102 with good success.

You will need all of the bits baseplate, coil , flywheel nut etc.

I have found that buying a donor engine can be the cheapest way.

I have not yet stuck a CDi on an SD, but it should fit.

H-A

Now HA that’s getting silly, you couldn’t fit that nice copper cover plate on a CDi flywheel. Or could you (now that’s a challenge)
Frank why would you want to change from the well trusted although old style ignition system. Mine has been running on the same points for the last 15 years that I know of.
I don’t think the chaps with electronic ignitions have the same longevity of parts or am I just lucky?

Graham I'm forced to agree with you, I think there is no chance what so ever of me ribbing some one, for their nasty comments about the reliability of CDI ignitions in 30 years time, as there will be very few left running!

I really like CDI's, but have to admit that their small flywheel is not best suited to a motor that you want with a slow running tickover.

Even Seagull agreed as they added a cast iron halo to the late Kingfisher & Osprey flywheels to increase their inertia.

In my opinion Seagull ignitions in terms of reliability are ranked in the following order,

1 Wipac points ignition
2 Villiers paper wrapped coil ignition
3 Wipac CDI

& the Villiers is a very close second to the Wipac points,
what say you John & Charlesp?

I have fitted a CDI on a 102 with good success. H.A.

That really is disgraceful ! and shocking!

Frank,

If you've got the Mark I ignition, you could change to the Mark II, which is a bit simpler to work with. SOS John can fix you up with the necessary parts. But both ignitions are very good, and I'm not sure you'll be gaining anything by "upgrading".

Search here for "fluke", follow the link to a good troubleshooting guide, get yourself a cheap multimeter, find the problem component in your magneto and replace it. Then you'll be prepared in the unlikely event you ever have another ignition problem.

There's also a brief troubleshooting guide here in the FAQ.

My favourite is the older Villiers magneto, pre Mark 1. Nothing to do with reliability, more to do with the fact it's easier to dismantle.

have done the ,buy a multimeter and test route ,got good readings from coils but still no spark.
after reading replys though i am going to stay with the wipac mk 2 ignition .just been looking up on the net and read a piece on wipac coils saying they can give a good reading but still wont spark ,its to do with the windings breaking down .i have now 2 coils that give decent readings but wont spark and its definately the coils at fault as i used a running engine and worked on the process of elimination ,mag ,coil,points, looks like i'm in the market for a wipac mk2 coil to have my second fortyplus running again,
was going to use a seagull as a backup engine but like them so much i'm selling my 15hp mariner and 8hp yamaha and be a sole seagull man ,who needs speed anyway.
cheers for the replys .
frank.

i'm selling my 15hp mariner and 8hp yamaha.

Get good money on the bay for them m8!