Saving Old Seagulls

A friend in QLD bought a tinny recently and got 2 Seagulls thrown in. He doesn't want them, so they are coming down to me for free in 3 weeks or so. The small one; he thinks the Engine no. is F 332M0. this makes it a November 1970 Forty Featherweight when the number is entered into the identifier. It looks like it has had a hard life, the carby inlet tube has been replaced by a bit of orange plastic? The second one is a Century I think, no Engine number yet, it seems complete. Any guesses before I get the engine number? Looks like I'll be busy this winter.....

Not bad at all and for free, looks like plenty of work, so best of luck with your projects.
Also picked up my First D today, well happy.

Looks to me like a circa 1960 LLS.

Nice score and nice projects!
Lucky your friend didn't get on the Seagull band waggon and ask $1000+

My friend has not found a serial number on the Century; he knows where to look, but he says it's just not there......

I have an engine with no numbers, it may have broken its tiller mount or something and had the part replaced, so wouldn't have been stamped.

Well, my 2 free motors (a Forty Featherweight and a Century) arrived from QLD on Tuesday, they are a bit worse for wear. I think they lived their twilight years outside. The 40 is seized and every nut and bolt is a chore to undo. The green flywheel moves about 1" and the piston goes up and down about a quarter of an inch until stiff resistance is felt. The gearbox was full of crud but the gears look good. The pinion gear has no play whatsoever, so maybe the seizing is related to the shaft. On closer inspection the inlet tube has been relpaced with a welded on tube of stainless. Bugger knows why.....must've snapped off? The drive tube has very little chrome left. The Orange plastic air intake is melted on.The choke works. Do these inlet tubes have a thread?


The Century is almost complete (only missing one clamp washer) and will scrub up Ok. The flywheel (with The Best Outboard motor for etc) moves normally and compression is felt. There is no engine ID number, just a blank area where it should be. After a bit of a clean up I'll try to start it. Looks like I'll be in the shed more often!

If you mean the inlet sticking out of the block, it's part of the casting. Stainless electrodes will weld cast iron in a fashion but it wouldn't take too clever a machine shop to affect a decent threaded repair.

One of my motors was seized the same, the pinion was seized in the bush but came free with flushing and soaking in CRC with gentle massaging back and forth.

Yes the inlet stub that sticks out of the block, I can only guess that something horrendous happened to the original, it may have been the same event that took the carby air inlet compensator off and was replaced by a bit of PVC orange pipe: I think I'll take the Villiers carby off the Century (haven't started on that yet) and use it on the Forty

Unseized now, the pinion gear shaft was well and truly stuck

A few more pics after a bit of elbow grease and paint: Note the homemade end cap gasket

Stripped of paint, can you keep it this way?

I think the later gearboxes were painted to protect them from sea salt and the elements, as the ally was not so robust.
Its up to you, myself I would repaint.
Plenty of elbow grease by the looks of it, especially what you started with.

Nice! I enjoy seagull porn!

More progress:

Seagull porn?

The holes on the exhaust are too big, also too many.

Yes, I thought they were too big too. I can try to get another tube; anyone got one in Sydney to spare?

I think the correct size aluminium tube is a bit rare/not a standard size?

Or block the lower 2 or 3 at least with jubilee clips or nuts, bolts, washers (tricky)