102 seized

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petem
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:36 am
Location: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

102 seized

Post by petem »

An old sailing friend has given me his nearly as old 102. This motor last ran in the early 1970s and then placed in storage. It was running ok when it was last used. It now is seized - I guess there is some rust in the bore. The motor looks to be in much better condition than my other two gulls and is complete apart from the fuel cap. Your advice on how to go about freeing up this engine would be appreciated. So far all I have done is to put some Penetrine (penetrating oil) in the spark plug hole.

The number stamped on it is AD 276 which is interesting as it seems to have always had a clutch. Am I correct in thinking this was made around 1946/47?
Pete
Duane A.
Posts: 30
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 1:29 pm
Location: Summerville, South Carolina USA

Post by Duane A. »

Hi,
I bought a 40+ parts motor that was seized up due to rust in the chamber. I pulled the plug and filled the cylinder with the best corrosion compound I had found to date called Break-free. I keep soaking it for months. I finally pulled most of the parts off –Tank, carb., ignition, points etc, then soaked the head in a bucket of kerosene for a couple of months. I made a heavy duty strap wrench out of 2â€
RickUK
Posts: 486
Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 12:58 pm
Location: Huntingdon

Post by RickUK »

Hello Pete - don't rip stuff apart too quickly - chances are it will free up if it has just locked up whilst in storage.
Take the carb off, lay the engine on its side and put some release oil or diesel in the 'ole and let it soak a while. The piston may be across the hole, which would be ideal in getting oil around it and the rings.
If the piston is high up in the bore - ie. near the plughole, you can use a soft drift -preferably aluminium bar or brass/copper through the hole and give it a persuasive whack. Often this is enough to break the rust seal and get things moving.
Eventually, clamp the motor onto something and get one of those rubber strap wrenches as used for releasing oil filters etc. (a large one) around the flywheel and try to rotate the motor in either direction. If and when you get it moving, keep putting a little oil in via the plug'ole until it spins over.
Another possibility is that the gear end has locked up, but this only happens with seriously neglected/corroded engines, but what you should do anyway is drain the gear oil (if any) and refill with 140 weight oil, but any oil will do while you are bringing the engine back to life. Let us know how you get on - a 102 is a nice motor to have. Rick
petem
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:36 am
Location: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Good news

Post by petem »

The old 102 is no longer seized. After 5 weeks of soaking in a mixture of penetrine and Inox penetrating oils, with a dash of Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) thrown in for the last week, she finally came free yesterday. My patience was rewarded, although my wife's patience will be tested when she sees the amount of ATF lying on the garage floor!

I also have a Century and a Silver Century with clutch. My Clymer (spelling?)manual is ok on these two but doesn't mention 102s. What manual should I buy for the 102?

The carby on the 102 is well and truely 'gunged up'. While I work on this carby, can I use the carby from the WSPC to see if the 102 will run?

If the 102 does run how will I know if the cooling system is working?

What sort of oil injecting device do I need to get the 140 oil into the gearbox? The gearbox has several oil nipples as well as a grease nipple.
Pete
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charlesp
Posts: 2567
Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:37 pm
Location: Poole, Dorset, England

Post by charlesp »

Ordinary Seagull oil will do the trick, the usual 140 grade. Whip out the oil nipples and squirt the stuff in direct until it's full. You could grease the top one through the nipple.

The Amal carb from the Century is fine - only the intake shroud was different for some reason.

The water pipe union that fits into the silencer has a small telltale hole in its lower surface, it'll eject water if the pump is functioning, assuming the hole isn't blocked. (This feature was referred to as an automatic pressure relief valve in early literature...)

Good luck
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