Saving Old Seagulls

Hello again folks.
If you're reading this post now, you will have been reading my exploits of a recently purchased seagull?
When looking at the original photos on ebay of this motor it originally had an early SD type transom mount which i've been on the lookout for ages for my own SD. So with this in mind i bought the motor complete with said bracket quite cheaply i thought.
When i got it home things started to "click" in my head.This is not an ordinary clapped out old SD type seagull but a very early 102 direct drive seagull with quite a bit of saltwater corrosion almost everywhere in all the usual places, the engine block being one of the main problem areas.
So just to be clear we have engine serial number of D9666 which if you look at the engine number identifier on the main site reads as being made in 1946. So 68 years old and counting! Now when i asked the chap i bought it from where the motor had been stored he said it had been in a damp shed for the last ten years or so and had not been used since his grandfather died about the same time. Being very close to the coast i wasn't expecting to be able to salvage much being a saltwater motor and all the dangers resulting from extensive saltwater usage. (except that skeletal bracket which we all want for the SD's)
On closer inspection and a bit more research i thought this motor was worth restoring being an old'en. So here we are in the process of a full resto job.

Now then, that engine block???? well not much to say really as there's not much left of it. Jeezlouise i've never seen so much corrosion to the extent that its literally blown the side out of the water jacket.

can anyone help me with putting up photos?

been trying for a while and nothing is happening!

Use the small tabs below the box you type in, it says "Upload attachment"

Or www.photobucket.com

hi oyster
yes i've tried that and didn't work

stelios
i dont have photobucket

if i want to upload any pics do i "share" the photos?

On photobucket? What do you mean to share them?

Here's a test picture..works fine.

Best to load photo onto your computer and then when you hit upload attachment you can then hit 'browse' which will then take you to your folders, then choose the folder etc with the photo in then double click photo and voilà! Takes a bit of getting used to.
I like the SD dots.

Clapped out old SD

Hmmm... I'd swap the D for a clapped out SD any day Though the D's do seem to be illusive chick magnets.

Im really looking forward to seeing some pics of your new mounts!........keep rubbing it in man....

They are pretty crude. This one is about to have caustic soda dip.

thanks guys i've sussed it (with the help of primary woman).
go back up to the top and you'll see the extent of the damage! SHOCKING.

In fairness though, this kind of corrosion had probably been going on for decades!


Ok, hopefully you can all see where those all important water jackets are now. Possibly another topic of conversation later on maybe.
So after an hour or so of probing and scraping all the muck and rubbish out of the water jacket i can now see where these blocks suffer really bad.
It would seem it starts to rust where the water initially enters the block by the exhaust port, look at the photos and it will show that it's quite a reasonable passage way to start with,the water then flows up the sides towards the crankcase end, but look carefully at the spark plug area and it REALLY narrows down to nothing! why? well if you think about it, this is cast iron and the inner cylinder needs to be held stable to avoid distortion and breaking. (that's my understanding anyway)
Eventually as time passes, once rust and corrosion starts,there's not much you can do other than keep flushing with fresh water.I am fairly confident you guys will have your own preferred methods of dealing with this but as i have found out, access into these blocks is VERY RESTRICTED at best, especially if your block does not have removable core plugs (which will help a bit) but for most 102 blocks with the pressed in core plugs it becomes a whole new ball game. Thin but strong wire will do an ok job but you just can't get everywhere to get every last flake of rust out.
Anyone tried car battery acid?
I have- works fairly well too, but give it a good going over as best you can with some wire. let it bubble and fizz away for an hour at a time then flush through with lots of water, do this as many times as you think is required. DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID!!! look at the blown side where the core plug is- i only gave it a very light tap with a toffee hammer (thats a very small lightweight ball pein hammer to those that dont know) and it just came away in my hands!!!
as for tapping a cast iron block thats already corroded i think could be a recipe for disaster!!!!! dont do it unless you are super confident that your block has nice THICK casting metal.


So there we have it--- exploding seagull blocks BEWARE



Right, now thats out of the way lets carry on with whats left of the old gull.
next job the seized gearbox


jon

hey beercan

sorry dude but i just couldn't resist as it was almost on my doorstep and cheap too




jon

Its all good my friend,I will find some mounts oneday..Looking forward to your resto!

beercan


this mount has only taken me 3 years to find!
they say that patience is a virtue.




jon

Well its taken me 14 years to find the SD and I got 2 at the same time..you are so right mate! The mounts will come...I can taste them!

Looking forward to your re build..keep the pics coming!