Vivat British Seagull outboard!

Poignard

Poignard

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About 10 years ago I bought, on impulse, a 36-year old British Seagull outboard, put it untested in a corner of the garage and forgot about it. Having a clear-out yesterday I rediscovered it, put some petroil in it and it started second pull.

I have decided to give it an overhaul and use it instead of the horrid Yamaha 2B I currently have. Practical recycling! :encouragement:
 
I've got a 1965 vintage Featherlight model. Love it! I've adjusted it to run on 20:1 mix so it's not as polluting - it still leaves a blue cloud behind it though.
 
ghostlymoron said:
I've got a 1965 vintage Featherlight model. Love it! I've adjusted it to run on 20:1 mix so it's not as polluting - it still leaves a blue cloud behind it though.
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I've been using a 1972 Featherweight for a couple of years, also on 20:1, and use a biodegradeable TWC3 oil so as to reduce guilt. It is still bloody noisy though.
Generally the longest run it gets is pushing my equally old Avon flubber from Tollesbury to West Mersea or vice versa, usually with a couple of heavy kit bags on board. GPS says 2.8 to 3kn over the ground at almost full throttle and it takes about an hour.
 
I've had a Seagull for sometime but I thought that I would buy a nice new outboard when I retired so bought a Suzuki 2.5. Then I bought a two stroke Mariner because the Suzuki was rubbish. Last summer I followed the advice on the forum and drilled out the jets on the Suzuki and it works fine now. As I was playing around with outboards I also got the Seagull going again so now have three working outboards.
I don't need three so which should I keep and which should I get rid of?
 
I also had a seagull, always worked perfectly when tested in the waterbutt but then regularly failed to start when on the dinghy. Bought a Honda 4 stroke 2hp at a bargain price(still had all the labels attached) and used it for several years until the exhaust mounting corroded away, broke up for spares and sold on ebay. Sold the Seagull for a good price. The seagull was temperamental noisy, leaked fuel in the car boot - best thing I ever did, I now hav an almost new Honda - excellent machine.
 
It depends what you want it for and how big the Mariner is. The big drawback with seagulls is the lack of a clutch so you either cast off before starting and hope it won't play up or start before casting off and risk pulling a cleat off your dinghy.
Tam Lin said:
I've had a Seagull for sometime but I thought that I would buy a nice new outboard when I retired so bought a Suzuki 2.5. Then I bought a two stroke Mariner because the Suzuki was rubbish. Last summer I followed the advice on the forum and drilled out the jets on the Suzuki and it works fine now. As I was playing around with outboards I also got the Seagull going again so now have three working outboards.
I don't need three so which should I keep and which should I get rid of?
Click to expand...
 
ghostlymoron said:
It depends what you want it for and how big the Mariner is. The big drawback with seagulls is the lack of a clutch so you either cast off before starting and hope it won't play up or start before casting off and risk pulling a cleat off your dinghy.
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My Seagull has a clutch, my Yamaha 2B does not.
 
parsifal said:
My Seagull has a clutch, my Yamaha 2B does not.
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A clutch! Now THERE'S posh!
I had Seagull 40 + outboard 1954 to1984 on a heavy wooden ex-drifter lifeboat. Never had a problem. 8 pints petrol, 3/4 pint of oil, always let the carb run dry at end of trip.

I now have a Yamaha Malta--- 100/1 mix. The outboard God would have had for the ark if he'd put some thought into it!
 
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Ludd said:
A clutch! Now THERE'S posh!
I had Seagull 40 + outboard 1954 to1984 on a heavy wooden ex-drifter lifeboat. Never had a problem. 8 pints petrol, 3/4 pint of oil, always let the carb run dry at end of trip.

I now have a Yamaha Malta--- 100/1 mix. The outboard God would have had for the ark if he'd put some thought into it!
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The kindest thing you can do with your Malta is to increase the amount of oil. 50:1 if possible, otherwise 75:1. At the very least give it extra oil or fog it well before winter lay ups.

There's not enough oil in 100:1 to lubricate a gnat's cock
 
I've always used 66:1 where 100:1 is specified. Maybe that means I only get 3 years out of a spark plug instead of 4?
I also use a 2T from a respectable brand.
I actually quite like Seagull outboards, but the fact that SWMBO can start the Yamaha 2 counts for a great deal.
 
I had three seagulls, never used them in anger, rebuilt 2 of them and sold the one with a clutch. Then one fell out of my bike shed and snapped off the bit on the crankcase that holds the tiller arm. Bought a crankcase off ebay for a tenner and it'll be put back together tomorrow. I'll start it and then put it back in the shed.

I'll use the Suzy 2.5 for the tender, but I'll keep the Seagulls for nostalgia. I ought to strip and rebuild the 40 featherweight at this stage while I'm on......
 
ghostlymoron said:
If you increase the proportion of oil you're effectively making the the air/fuel mix leaner. So you need to adjust the carb to compensate.
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A lesson learned, sometimes the hard way, by racers in the early 70s! Those 2 stroke Yamahas used to bite!
Stu
 
ghostlymoron said:
If you increase the proportion of oil you're effectively making the the air/fuel mix leaner. So you need to adjust the carb to compensate.
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I really doubt the carburation of an outboard is accurate enough to notice 1% less petrol, which is, in any case offset by the oil which is also there to be burned.
Not one of my outboard or other 2T plugs have ever looked worryingly 'lean'.
 
ghostlymoron said:
If you increase the proportion of oil you're effectively making the the air/fuel mix leaner. So you need to adjust the carb to compensate.
Click to expand...

The same outboard often specifies 50:1 for commercial use.

I have no real evidence, but I suspect the 100:1 figure was an attempt to placate the emissions crackdown that was leading up to the leisure "2-stroke ban".

Pete
 
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