Silver Century Plus for sale

[tprice]

I have an unstarted, new (old) in box, Silver Century Plus for sale. Long shaft, plus reverse.
It had sat in a basement for over 40 years. I have taken it out of the box and cleaned the points, coil, etc. Put in mixed gas and expected it to start. No go.
I was given a nice Tohatsu 6hp that my wife far prefers over my previous Seagull Century (which wasn't powerful enough), so I'm selling this interesting "new" motor that has never been run.
Full disclosure - it was apparently in a damp basement and has some mild corrosion. I have tried to start it and it leaked fuel out the carb float banjo.I tightened it and it stripped!
Sealed it with a touch of RTV temporarily and tried again to start. Not even a putt. There is a healthy spark. Personally I think that the carb may be clogged (with insects?).
At this point, I stopped fooling with it and decided to pass it along to someone, unstarted. It will need the float bowl thread fixed.
It is a great looking motor that probably won't start for some simple reason but I now already have a motor so someone else should have the honor of giving it it's first spark of life.
I am in Maryland (USA) and can be reached at tprice@usna.edu for pictures, etc. Asking $350. (dollars)

[atoyot]

$350 is a very fair price for that! What a find. If I didn't think I'd get tossed out of the house for buying another engine, I'd be there in an hour. You're making it very hard to behave.

Best of luck.

[tprice]

$350 is a very fair price for that! What a find. If I didn't think I'd get tossed out of the house for buying another engine, I'd be there in an hour. You're making it very hard to behave.

Best of luck.

It was a good find and I was looking forward to hanging it off the boat - it suits it. But my wife has gotten especially sensitive, enviornmentally wise and clearly stipulated that she didn't want another Seagull on the transom. Owner was a 90 year old Gibson Island doctor who bought it in the 1960s and then never unpacked it. It was in his storage locker at the Club and now he's clearing it out.
I really thought it would fire right up but seriously, I did find lots of bugs in the intake.

web seagull.jpg (13.8 KiB) Viewed 4622 times

Here's what I found when opening the box. It actually cleaned up very nicely but no pix yet.
TP

[tprice]

And again, what was in the "time capsule".
I also have a nice Silver Century with clutch and recoil start that starts every time for sale. It pushes my 33' easily driven sailboat at anbout 4 kts in calm water but doesn't have quite enough umph to be the right motor for that boat.

[chris]

great photo of your boat, $350nis a good price, I paid $400 formy silver century plus about 15 years ago, it had been fully reconditioned and looked brand new,
My minister for home affairs an finances who must be obeyed actually only likes the seagulls, all of mine that are running are very reliable but what she likes about them is if they do go wrong I can easily fix them on the spot, she also thinks they are pretty.
She embarrassed a biker once, she was checking out a group of harleys and pointed to the biggest meanest one and much to the embarrassment of the owner and extreme amusement of his mates said " I like that one I think its pretty"
Not how a harley owner wants their bike described

[atoyot]

And a fine & yar looking ship it is, too. I bet the Seagull did look good hanging off that boat.

[tprice]

A Danish, BB 10 meter sloop. I got caught in a Chesapeake squall and the Seagull putted me to the lee of the shore while 50 kt squalls rolled overhead. 5 minutes earlier and I'd have been dry, 5 minutes later.... who knows?
TP

[niander]

Hi dont think that has reverce ...foward and neutral i thinkl

[tprice]

Hi dont think that has reverce ...foward and neutral i thinkl

Oops - I think I meant to say clutch. Sorry.
TP

[tprice]

OK, carb is clean, but still won't start. Absolutely no spark is the problem. points cleaned, all connections checked. Looks like new (as it is) so I'm thinking that it's the loss of magnetism (after sitting in a damp basement for 50 years) on the flywheel trick!
I made a drill adapter to spin it up this weekend. Very curious as to whether the magnets can actually be re energized. Sounds like that breaks some laws of physics to me!

[skyetoyman]

As has been said many times on this forum. Drill spinning should be a last resort. I am sure others will suggest many reasons for it not starting.
Another case for "idiots guide to seagulls". A much needed guide

[tprice]

Well this idiot still has no spark. Flywheel has some magnetic attraction so I guess it's ok. So, is it likely that sitting for so long has damaged the coil? Wonder if anyone has a coil for a WSPCL 1465 ?

[atoyot]

Being no expert at all, I can only suggest what I've got in a manual I came across some time ago. It looks like you have a gold colored flywheel which I believe means it's a Mark-II ignition system. There are some specs in the way of coil resistance that you can check with an ohmmeter. If anyone else here has a list of specs that differs from this, please drop in. Here's what my source has listed:

4.78 ohms HT lead disc to nut.
4.78 ohms HT lead disc to small screw on coil.
0.2 ohms Nut to small screw on coil. (Points Closed)
1.12 ohms Nut to small screw on coil. (Points Open)

Obviously, you're going to need a good digital meter that is accurate at these low levels. My old Radio Shack DVM's are OK in these ranges, though.

I would also check the resistance of the high tension lead. In an auto, the resistance should typically not be more than 1K or 2K, and those are like that for noise supression. Surely, an ancient engine design such as with the Seagull, it should not be higher than that though this is but speculation on my part.... my birds are stored a good ways from immediate access right now so I can't offer to go and check it out.

Please report back with what you find out.


-ted

[tprice]

Took all the ignition parts apart again and then put it back together. Looked fine 'tho the points looked too far open. Odd for a new motor. Adjusted them to .020. Spun the motor with a drill and saw no spark. Bravely felt the lead and sensed a slight current. Spun it again and a bit more. Then I got a solid jolt! Took it outside, filled with gas and presto! A 46 year old Seagull puttered into life for the first time. Thanks for the help and interest.

[atoyot]

Great! Glad to hear of another success through mostly patience. Good work!