Saving Old Seagulls

I'l do a sample as you suggested. The black tank will sit next to the fire hardening up for a while now, before T-cutting. Any suggestions as to a clear lacquer to use? Incidently I struggled to find any Simoniz tough black, so the only choice of the 2 suggested paints was hammerite. It went on well, and can be re-coated in 15 minutes. So far so good

Can anybody advise the thread size on the end of my SD crank? I would like to clean up the thread by running a die along it.

Thanks.

7/16th BSF

H-A

Top man, many thanks!

Oops, only asked half the question, whats the thead size for the spark plug hole? I need to clean out the thread on the AD.

Thanks in advance.

M18 x 1.5 mm

H-A

Metric, I am amazed. Are all seagulls the same plug size?

Both a tap set and a die arrived in the post this morning. Very good service from RDG Tools!

On a seperate subject, I enquired to John about SD decals and also had a conversation with Charles on the same subject. John does not stock the SD version, but I have found this one on the Ebay. Looking at some of the photos it does look fairly close.

Any opinions?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRITISH-SEAGULL-1 ... 2c51b5cc57

Thanks.

No proof anywhere, only surviving motors which may or may not have borne decals. I believe - and nobody's going to get any closer than that - that some later SD motors may have had decals but I just can't see the Ministry of Supply ordering glittery gold things, nor can I see British Seagull spending the money. Much more realistic to just slap some army green khaki all over it!

That decal is all gold, and I don't have any evidence to support the idea that there ever was such a thing. Are you sure John doesn't do them?

Hello Charles, John believes that the SD had the all gold version, but he cannot really justify purchasing a batch, due to little demand. He does stock the AD version though.

Yes we have discussed it. The truth is we will never know, there are no 'mint' specimens left, there are, however, some that have decals but no guarantee the tank hasn't been replaced. I can tell you that the nature of the screen printing process can allow white and grey pigmented paint to wear off a gold substrate; I have a decal displaying that effect on a Little Model Forty tank.

It's true that some Marston decals were just gold, but the only two SD's that have decals that I am aware of had the AD type with overlaid grey etc.

It's worth noting that no factory notes survive, no contemporary references, nothing. And oh boy how I've searched! So we are left only with the motors themselves together with one draft manual which shows no decal, and post war parts lists that don't deal with decals either.

I still think that a predominantly shiny gold device has little place on a bit of military kit. But it has been pointed out to me that Battle of Britain Spitfires had what was effectively pictures of bullseyes painted prominently all over them...

Had a first look at the gearbox I obtained from Jan yesterday (Engine was bought minus a gearbox) Left it to soak in parafin overnight which has go rid of most of the sludge.

Some wear on the pinion is present, for which I have also obtained a good condition replacement also from Jan. A couple questions:

1. How much wear in the pinion is acceptable?

2. Has anybody found success in removing the pinion from a 102? Plenty of heat obviously, but I wondering how best to apply a load without causing damage?

Finished brass bayonet tank, this time using gloss halfords paint. This will harden off for at least 2 weeks next to the fire, before a good cutting back with T-cut. After that a coat or 2 of halfords fuel resistant clear to finish the job.

I've been thinking about removal of the gearbox pinion. Rather than heat and wacking with a hammer, with the risk of damage, I am going to look at cutting the ends off the pinion, pulling out the shaft and having the pinion housing carefully machined out. The remains can then be collapsed carefully with a chisel. Hopefully this will reduce the risk of any damage. Problem is the pinion is hardened

Is the pinion that bad, If so try relesing the pinion screw from the front of the casing, put the shaft in a vice and draw the casing off the shaft. You may find that a bit of a challenge but i think it may be slightly less trouble than drilling out.

Up date please how did we get on with the pinion, did the drawing help or not ? Iv been carrying out major jobs like polishing the tap and brass filler cap. After Mr D Ductches efforts all now have to be steped up to keep the Brits on par with those in Europe.