Saving Old Seagulls

hello folks...i'm now the proud owner of british seagull here's my story along with a few questions for ya'll experts...

i was riding along in pensacola,florida and i passed a antique shop..instead of stopping, i just called information and got their phone number..so i call the shop and ask.."do you have any antique outboards?" and the guy tells me .."yes we sure do..its a 1902 pelican, and its in great condition"...so here i am thinking i just won the lottery by finding an ultra rare outboard..i turn around and head back to the shop...run inside and the guy says..."i have to dig it out"....so i wait around and he yells "i found it"...so i go back there and he pulls out this old outboard...i then see the seagull lettering on the tank...oh well its not a 1902 outboard but this seagull must be very old and its in excellent condition...so i ask the guy...what do you want for it.. and he says "$200"...i tell him $150 and he accepts..i'm thinking i just pulled off the best deal in history ....all the way home i'm thinking this must be a really old motor..since i didnt know very much about seagulls except seeing a few pictures of them...

i get home and find the serial and come online and look it up...FP 314A8.....well turns out it isnt very old at all....what i can gather its a 1968? forty plus.....i was hoping for something a bit older since 1968 was the year i was born but it wasnt to be....BUT i still had this cool lil motor and started reading more about them...and liked it even more after finding out its simple to work on and built like a little tank!! so yesterday i started cleaning it up and trying to get all the grim and dirt off it and want to make it shine and run as best as i can! i've takin off the carbs and cleaned them very good and have the tank off...i'm noticing the tank has what seems to be "copper corrosion"...its like a thick bluish sludge inside of it......anyone know the best way to clean this out? i'm dieing to see if it runs..would it be ok it i ran it with this stuff in there? i've shaked gasoline inside of it and flushed it out a few times to get all the loose stuff out...

the cylinder looks pretty clean..seems to be a very low hour motor... my main concern is the tank sludge at the moment...also best way to clean the brown grim off? and best way to clean the chrome on the legs...has alil bit of bluish corrosion on it also..brillo pad?

look forward to participating in your forum and learning more about these great lil motors!...heres a few pics of my FP...more to come when its all cleaned up

It looks like a low hours FP in decent shape. The grime looks like cosmoline type grease which should wipe off with solvent - my favourite is Coleman fuel but a carb cleaner product would also work.

That fuel tank looks almost undented - definitely spend some time rinsing out the gunk (probably old two stroke oil left over after a tank of fuel evaporated)

There is a strainer in the tank, but the less gunk you let into your carb the less trouble you will have keeping it running.

thanks catigull....i spent all day saturday and sunday cleaning her up she looks great now!..the tank is pretty much dent free but it does have a couple of small ones.....only thing i have left now is to clean that sludge out the tank..its pretty thick in there......i've tried engine degreaser, gasoline..and carb cleaner inside of it..but nothing is helping its too thick.......does anyone have any ideas on what i can do to clean it out?


here's some post cleaning pics theres alot of scrubbing that went on to get it this clean lol my fingers are sore!! but it was well worth it..can't wait to hear it run...it has compression and spark...just needs fuel!

Wow!! thats cleaned up great! try paint thinner and a handfull of gravel in the tank(remove the fuel tap/gauze first)a good shake should loosen the gunge up.

thanks mrdaddy! i think she cleaned up pretty good also! and thanks for the tips i will try that out...will the paint thinner hurt the black pain on the outside if it leaks out?


also i just finished starting it up!!...earlier i pulled the fuel tap out and checked the lil screen..it was totally gunked up so i cleaned that good.. and then i flushed the tank a few more times with gas and decided to try to start her up anyway..figured the 2 screens will keep any gunk out the engine enough for me to hear it run...

well after fumbling around a bit i got it started...i made a video of it and i will post it later..so you will see what i mean by fumbling it could definetly be the offical british seagull bloopers video! ..it sounded great but i have a water flow problem....it was flowing intermitantly out the pee hole...and the block got pretty hot so i shut it down.....any tips on troubling shooting this? i guess i'll start with checking the water pump/impeller?

Hi,

If you are running this motor in a test tank, try disconnecting the prop, this may well solve your cooling water problem. The prop wash can sometimes cause an un natural water flow, in artificial test tank conditions, that interferes with water intake to the motor.

Regards Andy.

Kajun- at low rpms its normal for a 'Gull of this vintage to stop pumping water so that isnt a problem per se. You might get a spritz of steam every once in a while - its ok to run the engine for a minute at idle without water flow. Definitely take the prop off whilst tank testing - that will also keep you in touch with the state of your drive spring, washer, and cotter pin.

'Gull impellers almost never wear out since they dont make contact with the pump body when properly installed.

Im wondering if your original outside 'gunk' was original factory Cosmolene coating or equivalent???

You might have luck just filling that tank with gas and letting it sit for several days to dissolve that gook by the way.

Early owners manuels pre 65 ish suggested that caring owners varnished their Seagull as a protective measure.
I qwn a couple of 102s that have been varnished but have never seen a Century that has been so treated.

The other Charles might be able to give chapter & verse on this.

Your lucky some guy varnished this for you
looks like its protected it good

was the cooling water flow dirty at first?
had one the same and it was...soon clears though.

btw if you have no prop on dnt rev it too high wit no load on!
as you know

Kajun wrote: was flowing intermitantly out the pee hole...and the block got pretty hot so i shut it down.....any tips on troubling shooting this? i guess i'll start with checking the water pump/impeller?

Before deciding to strip it down it would be worthwhile back flushing the block with the yard hosepipe. (Consider wearing a wet suit) Have a look at the first water that comes out of the water inlet slots on the gearbox for rusty debris. ( As noted by others the impeller rotor is very unlikely to be a problem. )

Personally I prefer a slack handful of stainless steel nuts with an ounce or two of petrol rather than gravel when de-gunking brass tanks. Shake out the nuts and repeat a couple of times. I find that gravel can break up and takes too much extra cleaning out although it is economical as a starter stage when trying to rescue rusty steel tanks. I then use it combined with water.


Peter

With regard to cleaning fuel tanks , should you be lucky enough to have a local farmer with a potato riddle , then your prayers are answered. My local has one , around a dozen nuts , half a pint of petrol or diesel , and fifteen minutes on the riddler , and it will be like a new pin.

Andy.

thanks folks...i will try all these tips.

hould you be lucky enough to have a local farmer with a potato riddle

Is this something like..."Why did the potatoes breathe funny?"

Answer - Because they had TUBERculosis - courtesy of my daugher Abigail, age 9......

took off the prop and ran it today...ran perfect...steady stream on water in the barrel..so i think that was the problem......i also did a backflush on it...i dont think that was the problem cuz it flowed backwards just fine.....definetly the prop also another thing i had forgotted the first time was i left the choke or closed the whole time...dont know if that made a difference though....

i used a laser thermometer on it today to check the head temps....i was getting approximately 120F/40C on the black part of the powerhead....on the aluminum head that the spark plug screws into it was a bit hotter...190F/90C...but i had a good steady stream of water the whole time......are these temps normal?

i'll try to get my video edited and posted soon.....thanks for the help!