Saving Old Seagulls

Hi All,

Like quite a few people here I have suffered Ebay finger and clicked on the bid now button. I now have a 56cc Coventry Apex outboard, it looks a lot like a Seagull it has to be said and although being tatty, consistent with being left at the back of a shed for decades, it's mechanically quite sound. Does anyone have any info on these engines? Particularly what to put in the bevel box?


Any help would be much appreciated.

Post a picture, the 56cc version is an Apex 50, 1 1/2 hp @3500, bore 45 stroke 35mm, 16 : 1 fuel.

I use cheap non waterproof grease mixed with a gloop of SAE 140 to make it run a little.

A couple of pictures I have found the parts to fix the throttle cable and have cleaned it up now so looks a lot better. Despite the look of the fastenings there are no seized buts/bolts or screws.Any one got any advice regarding head gaskets etc? Thanks for the info regarding the bevel box, grease and SAE140 would be consistent with the gloop that came out of the bevel box.

Steve

I think the tank should have an aluminium plate sandwiched between it and the cylinder head, a bit like a 'Batman' mask, where the 'ears' protrude beyond the tank so it can be laid on its back.

Fastenings are all BSF, maybe with a few Whitworths in the mix. Cylinder head gaskets aren't available from anywhere, so you are on your own, but maybe leave it alone for the moment?
You've got Miller ignition, which always work in my experience, so clean the points, check for a spark, clean the carb, bit of fuel, and give the struggle string a pull!
The water telltales are small holes about 1/8" diameter in the bottem edge of the cylinder head.

Anybody looking for parts for one of these? No cilinder head, no flywheel tho.most other parts avalible.The tank has its top unsoldered and is now in two parts , I will have to check if its postable in this condition as its no longer a sealed petrol tank ( if you get my meaning.)

Hi everyone - I'm new to this forum as I have just aquired what now appears to be a Coventry apex 50 - I say appears to be because the tank was painted silver and the flywheel has a British anzani starter wheel on the top - took a week of searching to find what it was ! Perhaps I should have just posted pictures on here anyway - I have two issues - the first is the carb has been replaced with a villiers carb attached with a 3" piece of rigid pipe holding it to te engine block - does anyone know what type of carb should have been fitted ? Secondly through my own stupidity I released the magneto base and can't for the life of me remember where it should be lined up to - have tried determining tdc and shuffling it around but no joy so far - if anyone can indicate roughly where either the coil or the condenser should be in relation to the head (or any other location) I'd be really grateful.

Thanks

Sasquatch = hairy bigfoot? The carb should be a little Amal with a round air intake with an oval section tail (if that makes sense), The tail moves from sied to side by about 45 degrees to give an on/off choke effect. The carb fits direct onto a stub cast /turned on the side of the cylinder. Has this been broken off and someone done a botched repair?

I might have a spare carb,but think the inlet diameter could be too big for your engine - measure the diameter and put up another post if you are interested.

Timing - I can't remember the details of mine since it is a few years since I messed with it and it's a bit inaccessible, but try and work out the likely order of assembly - for some reason the coils of Miller ignition tend to be towards the rear of the motor. Are there any other clues like the run of the HT Lead to the spark plug? If you stare at it long enough and hard enough things should become quite logical.
Put the piston on TDC, and once you have the magneto baseplate roughly in place with the points closed, turn the baseplate slowly anti clockwise until the points just break. You can then move the plate a few more degrees to give some 'advance', but all other things being equal, the moter should be ready to start at this setting.

Thanks for the reply - big footed definitely the stub is still on the cylinder head - it is 1/2" diameter - i guess the previous owner thought a villiers attached by three inches of flexible pipe might work - it doesnt !

If yours doesn't fit do you know which model it should be ? There seem to be plenty of Amal carbs for sale but I'm scuppered if I don't know why I'm looking for sometimes I wonder whether a long hard pause before getting into these things might be good advice for future

Pull out an old SeaBee 3 carb, that has 1/2" diameter, looks like the type of thing you are after.
Sorry about the pic's

Don't despair - doing daft things and digging ourselves out is what makes us blokes! If you change you become more cautious (boring).
Keiths' pictures are correct, but with the inlet cover missing, and you'll see more pictures in the message string. Most Amal carbs you see advertised aren't suitable - you are looking for a particular type, but which shouldn't be particularly rare either.
As Keith says, the same carb is used on Seabees which are 'orrible, and the carb is the best bit. So save the carb and throw the rest away. Maybe keep the sparkplug as well !
The long inlet tube sounds like someones attempt to tune uo the motor - with the theory that a longer inlet length beneficially affects the intake pulses for a two-stroke motor - but it is necessary to understand the theory, and is pointless on such a small motor. The Anzani cover - Anzani Pilots had the same ignition and flywheel but had four screws (I think the Apex used two?) so the Anzani rope sheave fits - don't worry about it for the moment.
Sort out the igntion and a carb will follow. The Apex engines are simple but have a charm (in my view at least) and are not common - worth persisting with

Hi Big foot.
Recieved your email and replied.
The carb you are looking for is an Amal-362/7.
I have one here ,but have no eyed deer what the postage would be to the uk. You can have it for the postage if that helps getting you out of the mire.
I also have if anybody is interested, the fuel tank and cap. I have split the tank in two halves to knock some dents out of it it just needs re soldering back together along its joint and painted. I assume i will be able to post as tis not a fuel tank , just two parts of a tank thats been cleaned etc. some applies postage costs only.
Geoff