Popular Post Abarth Posted November 12, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 12, 2018 Picked up an old British Seagull outboard off Trademe a couple of weeks ago. This is a 1961 Century 100 model which packs about 4hp. Pretty rough condition dents in the tank and surface rust everywhere. First step was to get it running as it had sat for many years and the sellers weren’t sure if it worked. Got it home, added fuel and first pull it sat there idling like a champ. Stoked! Perfect for cruising round in the dingy for summer. Next is paint.... 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mof Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Abarth Posted November 12, 2018 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 12, 2018 After finding out it ran pretty decent I decided to strip it down. Didn’t take any pics but the water galleries around the cylinder were caked with rust flakes. Managed to remove it all with a screw driver. Looked like old coffee grinds coming out of it. So much! Also pulled apart the gearbox down by the propeller which had a 50/50 mix of grease and water in it. Replaced it with gear oil and closed it back up. Made a new throttle cable from a bit of cable I had sitting round. Oh yeah paint.. Lol Got some blue 2k base coat and added holographic glitter to the clear for a laugh. Looks like a 90’s show car but shines mint in the sun. Wasnt even sure the glitter would come through the gun but yip it definitely did! 29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Hot damn, bass boat flake on the dinghy plz 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abarth Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 11 hours ago, tortron said: Hot damn, bass boat flake on the dinghy plz Cheers, the dinghy is two tone white and orange, hence the orange grips for the Seagull. Forgot to mention these things are insanely well built, probably why they have a reputation for reliability. A lot of it’s made from Brass; the fuel tank, the whole exhaust pipe, pins, nuts and bolts etc... Will test it out this weekend so standby for updates Here’s a couple more pics! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 I want a seagull now. Don't even have a boat. Just wanna pull apart then run it up in the wheely bin. Looks ace... 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi808 Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 ^ I thought the exact same thing! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abarth Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 Thanks fellas, they are really cheap on trademe, people seem to leave them for ages in the back of a garage then sell them in unknown condition. Its hectic in the wheelie bin at full throttle haha Runs a hearty 10:1 oil petrol mix so I got some Ipone two stroke oil, smells like strawberry when it’s running which adds to the lol factor. Is this the next summer OS event; Seagull dinghy races? I can picture the spanies now. Edit: Video inspo!! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOHC Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 I had a dingy and a 4 HP seagull, got it when I was 15, had the same problem as yours, water jacket full of rust, the water/gearbox oil mixture is normal, Think I will get another one to after seeing your thread 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abarth Posted November 15, 2018 Author Share Posted November 15, 2018 Gave the new paint a light cut and metal polished the chrome down pipes. All ready for it’s first test run this weekend! Next is to get a number 2 carb needle to convert it from 1:10 to 1:25 oil/petrol mix. And a new seal for the prop. and one last pic of the prop 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Abarth Posted November 19, 2018 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 19, 2018 Great success on the water this weekend! Did a couple of laps around the bay, initially she was running rich so dropped the needle down in the carb. Power picked up a lot after leaning the mixture. Goes mint for a little engine, had three guys in the dinghy and towing two other guys in Kayaks, moved along ok. Went out to a fishing spot and caught a Kawai. Smoked it for dinner. Success. 34 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abarth Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 So the seagull didn’t even get an outing this summer. Disappointing. Problem was that the banjo bolt going into the carb was stripped and leaked fuel everywhere. Finally got another carb for it, this one is in exceptionally mint condition compared to the old one. It’s actually off the newer model which has the 25:1 premix instead of 10:1. A few guys run 25:1 on the older series but at the risk of the older style brass bearings. I’ll give it a go at probably at 20:1 or 15:1 ish. This time I’ll get some marine grade mineral two stroke as I found the synthetic motorcycle oil oiled up the spark plug a lot. Most likely due to the 10:1 premix and a low operating temperature. Also opened the head and checked the water passages. Sprayed CRC through out to stop and rust in the iron block. Then gave the block a dose of Matt black extractor paint to tidy it up. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Abarth Posted May 27, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 27, 2020 Finally got Sparkels out on the water to test the new carb. Super easy to start now, first pull and she’s away. It’s running a mix of 1:20 ish, probably closer to 1:15 as I poured slightly more oil in. Anyways out on the water it ran great at 3/4 throttle. Full throttle it bogged down a bit and seemed like it was running out of fuel. Adjusted the needle height a couple times out at sea to try let in more fuel which slight fixed it not fully. Want to adjust the height of the prop as it sits low in the water and apparently fills the exhaust tube with water making it smaller and less effective with the 2 stroke pulses. Sea trials will continue tomorrow..... 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abarth Posted May 28, 2020 Author Share Posted May 28, 2020 Hmmm seems like there is a bunch of sediment in the tank that keeps blocking the main pilot jet as it steadily ran worst and worst in rough conditions and eventually broke down lol. Rowed back to shore and drained the tank. Ran out of light so I’ll clean the carb tomorrow. Also noticed it has the worst possible spark plug cap so Ill pick up a rubber one from the auto shop down the road. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 Seagull life... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abarth Posted May 30, 2020 Author Share Posted May 30, 2020 Think I’ve found it’s sweet spot, needle 2 turns down the carb slide. Seems to make the most power. Raised the motor too which I think helped running but is slides down the stem as you steer. All was going well until it got some rope caught in the prop as it was going along bringing the prop to sudden halt with the motor still running full steam. Made a huge grinding sound followed by a bang. Thought it lunched the gearbox initially but on closer inspection the prop spring driving it had done its job and snapped protecting the prop. 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abarth Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 Ok, summer is just round the corner and Sparkles has been neglected all winter. Still had running issues with her at the end of last season, it ran from dead cold for 3mins and then would be gutless or hard to start for ages. All the features you don’t want out at sea. Me being silly and avoiding one of the massive issues I should have fixed early on would’ve probably solved a lot of issues and lead to trouble free motoring. Im talking about the ignition condenser. So I ordered a new one and new coil. The points looked mint so no trouble there. I cracked into it literally breaking the top off the alloy casting trying to undo a rusted bolt. Need to find a blue HT lead as the old lead is just wire with a plastic cap, nothing to keep the water out where it joins the spark plug. Speaking of spark plugs I’ve ordered a 18mm to 14mm thread adaptor so I can run a modern iridium plug so it doesn’t foul from the oily premix. Picture to follow shortly….. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Abarth Posted December 19, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 19, 2021 Where were we? Currently Sparkles has all new electrics. Got the soldering iron out and banged in a new coil and condenser from the UK. The coil was a bit of a mission as none of the connections or size for that matter match the old one. Soldered the equivalent of the end of a spark plug onto the coil output. Then used an automotive HT lead to send the spark to spark plug. I got a guy down south to send me a spark plug adaptor, taking it from 18mm to 14mm so I can run a modern iridium spark plug. Just have to wait for a new crankcase housing as I broke the old one with holds the points plate in position. Then she’ll be ready for the next adventure! 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Abarth Posted February 13, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 13, 2022 Ok, so after many fails, like the points plate and flywheel was bent. Must have fell off its stand at some point. I stripped the whole thing down this arvo. Cleaned out all the water galleries including the pick up pipe in the exhaust. Had to replace the top part of the crank case as I broke a piece off the casting. Was good to open it up, gave everything a really good clean. Noticed it must have got really hot at one point as the metal around the big end had colouring. Sealed everything up with some gasket maker. Put all the ignition on and turned the motor over with a drill for 5mins to put charge into the condenser. Plugged in the spark plug and it let out a good spark when turning over. This is probably the best condition this thing has ever been in recently. I probably should have done this when I first got it lol. But anyways it’s ocean ready now! 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abarth Posted March 9, 2022 Author Share Posted March 9, 2022 Got a small race this weekend against some other seagulls. Decided to have a look to see what the timing is doing with a timing light. Sparking at 45 degrees before tdc, seems way early but starts easy as. Noticed when I ran it up there was no water. I think I’ve not fitted the cooling pipe correctly. I’ll whip the leg off and check tomorrow. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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