Saving Old Seagulls

Hello, everyone. I've admired Seagulls from afar for some time, but just became an owner last week. I'm sure you'll all understand that I'm pretty excited about it. I found a Century Plus (Clutch) long shaft (SN: CPC20552L - circa 1962 or so?) locally for $80USD, which I thought was a pretty good deal. The seller said it ran, but didn't seem to pump adequate water, seemed to run hot, and it dribbled water out of the head gasket. He said he had only run it for five minutes or so. Well, I couldn't resist. It was quite clean overall, with minimal rust on the chrome and very few dents in the tank (alas, no decal). Anyway, I went through the standard backflushing procedure (a little rusty water came out of the intake vents), filled it with gear oil, fueled it up, and it started on the first pull. Ran great! I ran it for around 15 minutes in a barrel - it seemed to pump water very well, it didn't run hot, and there was absolutely no leaking from the head gasket ... my neighbor, who is a marine mechanic, couldn't find anything wrong either. So, I feel pretty good about it! One question, though - I screwed up the fuel mixture and mixed 5 to 1 instead of 10 to 1. As I say, it ran great. While I will certainly correct the ratio, is there any harm in running such an oil-rich mixture? Sorry for the long post. Any comments/advice appreciated. Thanks.

Ben

Seems like you have a good one there! Made round about 1960-61 at the Fleets Bridge factory a couple of miles from where I'm sitting, it's already coming up to its half-centenary.

5 to one won't hurt it, but you may upset one or two of the local green minded folks what with the extra smoke, although there are people who may regard that as an advantage. 10 to one is more economical.

You can get a new decal from John. I have yet to try one of these, they're very new, but knowing John's commitment to quality I'd be surprised if there was anything closer to the original out there.

Good luck with your new motor (which sounds like a bargain, especially for your side of the pond...)

Thanks for the info, Charles. I just ordered a decal from John, and my tool kit is on order as well. I can see how Seagull ownership can become addictive ...

Ben