Saving Old Seagulls

PS - don't forget, if getting a drive tube re-plated, give the plater clear instructions not to touch the last 2 inches or so of the open end of the tube with a belt linisher or a buffing machine, as this will cause loss of the necessary interference fit in the water pump housing!!

Sorry guys - no substitute for chrome plating on driveshaft legs - sorry because it ain't cheap or a quick turnaround! Even with chrome, it is still best to wash the leg after saltwater (or any) after use, and wipe over with an oily rag. Drive shafts - I have seen some worn to a cloverleaf shape on ...

Martensitic stainless steels are always magnetic, and even some of the low number austenitics - 304/305 - have a relatively high degree of magnetic characteristics.

just to add my thoughts to the picture, though not necessarily relevant to dates etc! One of John Marstons' sons ~Charles Marston - was set up in Villiers Engineering by his father, initially for the supply of cycle parts. Charles remained in overall charge until the end of the second world war, but...

Dead right about the needle roller - I had one where the rollers had corroded and caused a corrugation on the crank from sitting, effectively scrapping it. The paint on the one in question is a relatively recent blow-over. I had several Pilots, no two having the same colour - eg. green all over( dee...

I think its a Mark III, having the Amal (preZenith) carb. and the cast leg. Earlier Pilots just had ally tube for legs.

HI Liam - 0.5mm (0.020") correct for your plug and points - yes, you have to remove the petrol tap to check the gauze filter (if its there). I think 10 + mph is a bit optimistic. speed is largely determined by hull shape/size - the potential max speed for a displacement (round hulled) boat is t...

Change the oil in the gearbox. (140 weight oil) remove the drain plug, drain the old oil (and water) and refill using the plug as the fill level with the engine upright. Make sure the petrol filters are clear (tank and carb)

Get a piece of small diameter plastic drainpipe cut to the length you need,cut it lengthwise, and clamp it with a jubilee clip. Otherwise, John of this website has Seagull height adjusters for sale.

So no plastic springs for Nudge? If the spring are so heavy in his tool box, could we club together and get a set off castors for his toolbox?

Yeah - who cared if a passing Seagull made trannies buzz? (trannies for the younger generation being transistor radios - not the new meaning of trannies!)
Could a suppressor put more of a resistance on the coil?

Rick

would you need to disconnect the pipe that often? The other thing you could do is to use a petrol pipe clip (like a much lighter version of a jubilee clip, and just loosen it and pull the pipe off as necessary.

Yeah - I'm sure read in the dim and distant that suppressors were to be discouraged, but don't know the reason - no other old outboards use them do they? I suppose there is more of a likelihood of folk fitting suppressed plug caps inadvertently -seems there a far more of these in circulation than no...

HI Jacob, what you need is a petrol tap as fitted to the later plastic tanks, where the top 3/4 is like a standard Seagull tap, but instead of a threaded bottom end, it just has a pipe spigot over which the pipe pushes. Some illustrations show a plastic 'laboratory' clamp to nip the pipe onto the sp...

Hi Jon, - just read your offer to scan Seagull manuals in one of your missives, which I am sure is with good intent - I would ask you, however, to respect a tacit agreement we have with British Seagull to not publish information which can be deemed to be their intellectual property, with the aim of ...