Saving Old Seagulls

I've 'taken the plunge' and bought my first Seagull to use on my Wayfarer. I did a swop plus a few bob with an old Yamaha 4hp which came with my old boat (now sold) and which I never used as I was sailing on a reservoir where motors were not allowed. The Seagull is a 40 Plus, no. FP 342 H8 which dates her to August 1968. She came from a boatyard where she had been languishing at the back for a long time. Started easily in the yard - even with some foul smelling ancient petrol in the tank - and ran well. I've given her a preliminary clean up and have drained the old petrol and gearbox 'oil'. Now waiting for a few parts to be delivered - new oil, plug, cork washer for tank etc. Hope to have her back on the water later this month. As soon as the weather allows me to finish painting the boat! In the meantime, enjoying reading the forum.

Well done with your new seagull. Plenty of help here if you need it. Post a picture, we like pictures

Will post some pictures when the boat is painted. I've just whipped out the old plug (new on order): it's very oily - the seller told me that the carb has been converted to 1:25 mixture - perhaps someone has been using too much oil? Would a shot of Redex into the cylinder - letting it soak and draining out before fitting a new plug - be of any use to clean the rings etc? (Thinking of when I had an A-series BMC engine in a Moggy Minor).

hi DIAPASON

there could be a few reasons why the plug is wet/oily.
bearing in mind that this motor hasn't been run for a long time except to see if it does at all?
which it does, so thats half the battle won.
now what you need to do is remove the carb and give it a complete strip down and clean EVERYTHING! flush out the fuel tank whilst you're there.
i dont think that redex will do much for it with regards to freeing a sticking/stuck piston ring. clean the carb up and then give the motor a long run in a bin, preferably under load with the prop still attached but run it at half throttle.if there is a stuck ring you'll notice it when the engine gets up to temperature
after you turn the motor off, whip the spark plug out and check its condition again (dry and sooty or wet and oily)
if you have the equipment to hand or you can borrow it, do a compression test with the screw in type tester which will confirm one way or other whether you need to rebuild the power head and fit new rings/gaskets.

quite often just keeping things clean on the fuel system will cure a lot of problems.
ignitions are still fairly simple things to work on as well.

refer to the main site for diagrams on the carb to help you. if not, put up some pics and we'll talk you through the process.

jon

Hi and welcome, means I am no longer the latest member!!

Re the 25-1 mix while your cleaning and checking the carb check the needle for marks or not; If you head for the main SOS site there are details in the FAQ sections regarding conversion and needle markings.

Personally I always run mine, including a 76 40+ on between 8 -1 & 10 -1 sure they smoke but so did I when I was a boy!

Have fun with your new acquisition

AJ

Many thanks. I'm a novice with mechanics, so am a bit loathe to strip the carb unless absolutely necessary. I'm waiting for some oil and new plugs in the post. When they arrive, I'll put her together and give her a good run in a wheelie bin to let her properly warm up and then see what the plug looks like. She was running - on ancient petrol - when I bought her, so hopefully, clean fuel with proper marine oil will make a difference. I'm going to order the manual, which will also help me if I do then need to strip the carb - with help from a friend who is into vintage motorbike engines.

DIAPASON
don't worry about how difficult you think these things are to work on.
they really are very simple little things including the carb.
seagulls respond very well to cleaning especially in the fuel department.
as soon as you start looking in the manual you'll start to realise that there's not much to them.

any problem at all just ask. plenty of help on here.

jon

also from one newcomer to another, don't underestimate the wonderful help and practical knowledge there is in this forum. I have been amazed at the help I have received in various ways from locating missing parts to confirming correct attachments and careful advice on difficult procedures like removal of cylinder studs from old 102's.

As Jon say's the carb on your motor is very simple and does need a clean before it's on the back of a boat being shaken up. look at it carefully and take a few close-up photos for reference as you go you'll soon gain confidence. Start with the float chamber, it simply unscrews, it will drop away with the float resting in side, lift it out and you will almost certainly find sediment in the bottom.. that's a start!

AJ

Thanks both. I've just spoken to my friend who is an expert on vintage motorbike engines and has a fully equipped engineering workshop. He's going to help me, and we're going to do it next week.

great stuff!! keep us in the loop

AJ

Takes me back to my teenage years, my Dad had a Wayfarer and it was during the glory years of Seagulls when we saw them every where on the Welsh coast.

Boat ready to launch after much restoration work. Will hopefully have time to work on the engine next week.

I'll be interested to see how it works on the Wayfarer, pictures or preferably some video . . . . . please