1977 cp16 came with 1977 british seagull wspcl

[roamy]

Just retrieved my new 1977 Silver Century Plus long  and it is not in great shape.  Replaced the spark plug and tried to fire it up...no go!  I'm gonna clean it up, replace a couple little things and try again.   
Does anyone have an opinion on these things.  At 5+ hp and what appears to be very little turning radius, is this piece of nostalgia worth my efforts?...I just asked a wacky thing, huh.   If it works why not? super cool, I guess

[skip1930]

From what I can glean from other web sites about the British Seagull outboard engines are that...

1~Seagulls like lubricating oil. A mix of 50 to 1. Wow bad time to be a mosquito and flowing the boat.

2~One must surmise that if 50:1 is necessary it's probably to seal the piston rings for 'top dog' compression.

3~Giving that tremendous 5+hp with a very small displacement.

4~Best hp to displacement engines are Radio Control aeroplane churns: 0.77hp with 0.40 cu in !!

5~I'll bet she's gummed up. A gallon of WD-40 [$20] to the rescue, soak it and flood it. Until she just spins over easy by hand without the plug in.

6~WD-40 cleans R/C engines and get all that burned up caster oil out of the combustion chamber after burning the nitromethane at 11,000 rpm's.

7~Cleanliness is next to godliness. Divine intervention should help too. Carb, internal engine case, float, needle settings, spark, fuel delivery...

8~There is a difference in formulation between air cooled [chain saw] oil and water cooled [Seagull] oil for two cycle engines.

9~CAUTION: Two cycles will fire and run on WD-40 with enough compression and a spark. Watch those body parts.

So what is needed?--> Compression, Fuel, Timing, Spark, Induction and Exhaust all working together...she's gotta bang. "Says so in the book"

Check those little pulsing flapper valves that capture the air/fuel load [14.7 to 1] and open and close with the crankshaft/piston pulse swings.

"At 5+ hp and what appears to be very little turning radius" Hummmm what's this mean? Short stroke? [ = high rpm, no torque ].

skip.

Yes, this is my other Model A. Just like Henry Ford's Model T put America on wheels, Ole Evinrude's first outboard, (Model A) put America in motorized rowboats. And quite coincidentally this outboard was made the same time period as the Ford's Model T. Evinrude also built a 2 cylinder 4 cycle in 1916-7 and it was called the Model AA.

This is a 1918 Evinrude. I had to make a new drive shaft to replace the twisted one [someone must have hit a large rock]. I also had to make a new prop shaft and two bushing to replace the worn ones. The gas tank was badly bent up, but I unsoldered all the seams and straightened it out and resoldered it. After I completed the restoration I took it to the lake and a friend and I rented a 14 foot wood rowboat and put about 8 hours on this outboard. It's rated 2 H.P. and revs up to 800 RPM. It's a lot of fun and pushed the two of us pretty well in the wood rowboat.

If you have an interest in old outboards, ARLAN CARTER has an excellent new book titled: "The American Rowboat Motor". Lots of good color photos and it covers the time of American outboards from the beginning through the 20's.

Shawn: BTW 1918 was Evinrude's lowest sales year because they were busy making hand grenades for WWI, and only 194 outboards were sold that year. Ole and his wife Bess worked hard and sadly both died young. Just like Henry Ford, they only had one son and he took the business over.  [Henry lived a long life].

I knew we had a 50:1 somewhere...I didn'tnow the other stuff.


skip.

[Shawn]

"1~Seagulls like lubricating oil. A mix of 50 to 1. Wow bad time to be a mosquito and flowing the boat."

Seagulls *really* like lubricating oil for most of their run they were 10:1. Units after 1968 can be rejetted to run at 25:1.

Only the last Seagulls (with roller bearings) ran at 50:1 and they didn't last long at that ratio, any that still survive are recommended to run at 25:1.

Shawn

[Shawn]

"Does anyone have an opinion on these things."

I have a couple of Seagulls including a '68 long shaft Silver Century like yours and a short shaft 40+.



If you put a new plug in it it will likely start up. Run it at 10:1 gas/oil ratio. Make sure you open the gas tap on the bottom of the tank. On the top of the carb there is a 'tickler'... press on that till gas leaks out of the carb (yes really). Push the choke plate over the carb, give it about 1/4 throttle, make sure the clutch is disengaged, wrap the rope around the flywheel and brace the gas tank with your hand and pull hard.

It should start on the second or third pull. If it doesn't start by the 4th or 5th pull pull the plug and dry it off. While you have it off try and test to see if you have a spark. If you don't connect a drill to the nut on top of the flywheel and spin it for awhile and it should get a spark back.

Once it is running open up the choke and let it warm up. At anything above idle you should see cooling water flowing out of the back of the block. IF you aren't getting that shut it off so it doesn't overheat.

Since you have a long shaft be sure you don't have the exhaust too deep in the water. That will prevent it from starting too due to the backpressure.

Lastly be sure you fill the lower unit with 150 weight oil.

Saving Old Seagulls have a ton of information on Seagulls.

After you have it running you will have a couple of more questions... yes it is normal for black Seagull Droppings to come out the top of the exhaust tube below the head. Likewise after it is off it is normal for the same to be dripping out the bottom of the exhaust and all over the lower unit. Converting to 25:1 (just a jet) reduces this quite a bit.

http://youtu.be/xzyBN__6lXs

Shawn

[Shawn]

BTW, in that youtube video you can see the cooling water keeps cutting in and out on that engine. That is due to prop wash in the bucket. It won't hurt the impeller (they don't touch the housing) but it is more likely to overheat if run at full throttle and the prop wash keeps the water from flowing. Typically for bucket testing the engines that don't have a clutch the prop spring is disconnected.

Shawn

[skip1930]

On " the carb there is a 'tickler'... press on that till gas leaks out of the carb (yes really). "

This sounds like the AMAL carbs found on Norton 650 and 750 Commando murdercycles.

Push the pin down that floats above and outside the top-o-carb, that pushes the cork float down and displaces gasoline, and that drips raw gas into the throat of the carbs to start when cold. Very simple and primitive. But works very well when launching oneself over the handle bars on a kick~back. Gotta love British things. And just like a young puppy they leave little puddles in their wake.

skip.

[Shawn]

Skip,

Yup, the Silver Century Plus uses an Amal carb, I think the other models used a Villiers or Bing carb.

British Seagulls are fun little outboards... some swear by them, some swear at them. Be sure you have a set of whitworth tools.

Shawn