What might this Stuart Turner Engine be worth?

BigART

BigART

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Hi Folks, I am in the process of clearing out an elderly uncle’s old house (still with us but had to downsize). He used to sail around the Solent from Lymington. In his garage, I found a single cylinder Stuart Turner P5MEC engine which appear to have been reconditioned in 1990 but not used since. Anyone any idea what it is worth? I suspect it is more than the £400 limit on Sales and Wants so it will probably have to be Ebay unless you have any other suggestions.

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I had one, plus a large box of spares, to dispose of last year. The new owner wanted it for a garden ornament, good idea. I have it to him for nothing, a fair price.
 
I think ebay is your best bet, particularly if you can get it running. If running then up to £300 if you are lucky, otherwise you'll have to sell as 'spares or repair' when it may reach up to £100. I sold a P5 as a runner a few years back and from memory got £150. Good luck!
 
PetiteFleur said:
I think ebay is your best bet, particularly if you can get it running. If running then up to £300 if you are lucky, otherwise you'll have to sell as 'spares or repair' when it may reach up to £100. I sold a P5 as a runner a few years back and from memory got £150. Good luck!
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If the magneto has also been reconditioned, its probably worth £150 by itself.

We used to do the Mags for Stuart Turner in Henley when I was 2I/C the Lucas Depot at Park Royal. In the early 80's a mag cost about £100 to do. Far more now.
 
Thanks all for the good advice. As it still turns smoothly, I think I am reluctant to go down the mooring weight for the moment!
 
If you do want to sell it on eBay you might do better if you don't only list it in the Boat Equipment section. It might be of interest to model engineers or people who collect old machinery. Possibly even a pub designer!
 
Stuart Turner engines were very effective and really only the thing wore out was the crankshaft seals which lost the compression and thereafter they wouldn't start. Magnetoes were of course susceptable to the damp but many were converted (and still can I think) to coil ignition. Stuart engine were very smooth; none of that hammer effect of a small diesel. Fairways at Maldon 'took over' the marine engine side, had the spares and patterns. A fully reconditioned Fairways Stuart would be attractive. Someone refurbishing a wooden launch in particular would be very interested. Some of the restorers on the Thames might be interrested in particular. It won't be worth a fortune though but it deserves better than scrap.
 
I had my P4MC refurbished by Fairways at Maldon & when I collected it, the mechanic, who had a hand missing, used his stump to flick the flywheel & it started instantly.

A month later, I was winding furiously on the handle & the d..d thing refused to start.
I complained to Stuart Turner at LIBS one year. The answer was " Well it is the fault of all you boat owners. What do you expect if you let them to get damp??"

It was the most useless piece of carp known to man. I had so many tricks to get it started. One involved holding the spark plug over the cylinder & turning the handle so that the spark would ignite the fuel in the cylinder to dry it out after it had flooded. It started a fire on board in the middle of the North Sea & I only managed to put it out on the last burst of the second Chubb powder fire extinguisher.
Took ages to clear the mess up.
Powder & water makes a terrific skating rink:encouragement:
Another tip, is to shut the crew's clothes bag first, because if one gives it a blast with the extinguisher, it b. gg..rs up his dinner suit big time.:nonchalance:
 
I had various tricks, some of which seemed to work sometimes.
1/ Always carried spare plugs and magneto.
2/ pencil the plug points.
3/ heat the plug, a problem if you had to light the Primus first.
4/ Big problem with hot starting, I assume because the crankshaft seals expanded and lost compression. Sometimes overcome with a squirt of oil or neat petrol down the plug hole to induce a temporary seal.
5/It would never start if you REALLY needed it. Pretend it wasn't needed.
6/ Shout and swear at it, this made you feel better.
7/ if it did run, learn to shout "we have no reverse" in Dutch. For use in Dutch locks.
 
Daydream believer said:
I had my P4MC refurbished by Fairways at Maldon & when I collected it, the mechanic, who had a hand missing, used his stump to flick the flywheel & it started instantly.

A month later, I was winding furiously on the handle & the d..d thing refused to start.
I complained to Stuart Turner at LIBS one year. The answer was " Well it is the fault of all you boat owners. What do you expect if you let them to get damp??"

It was the most useless piece of carp known to man. I had so many tricks to get it started. One involved holding the spark plug over the cylinder & turning the handle so that the spark would ignite the fuel in the cylinder to dry it out after it had flooded. It started a fire on board in the middle of the North Sea & I only managed to put it out on the last burst of the second Chubb powder fire extinguisher.
Took ages to clear the mess up.
Powder & water makes a terrific skating rink:encouragement:
Another tip, is to shut the crew's clothes bag first, because if one gives it a blast with the extinguisher, it b. gg..rs up his dinner suit big time.:nonchalance:
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A Stuart-Turner petrol engine and a dinner suit on board.

You are a true Corinthian, Sir!

I salute you.
 
Great memories of past times, when yachting was a bit more demanding.. But, it would have far less 'fun', if the engine had been converted to coil ignition. The one I knew that was converted, started every time without hassle.

I am seriously tempted for use on the river here...
 
Dear old Stuart Turner - got me out from under the bow of HMS Euryalus as she prepared to use my Silhouette cruiser as a fender at Devonport, with MOD Police racing along the wharf - my fault, honest !
 
The P55 I had in a little 2 1/2 tonner was very reliable - it had a Lucas mag, and two cylinders, of course! The only difficult thing about it was it's liking for Bosch spark plugs. Nothing else would do. I sold the boat some five years later - still with the same pair of spark plugs it came with!
 
Poignard said:
A Stuart-Turner petrol engine and a dinner suit on board.

You are a true Corinthian, Sir!

I salute you.
Click to expand...


Annual Stella class race to Ostend - Only this year it was changed to Nieuport because Stella Artois were taking the Tour of Belgium Cycle Race there, instead of Ostend, that year. Stella Artois used to provide meal in hotel for whole fleet of about 25 boats, along with loads of other goodies.

Engine cut out coming out of the harbour & we smashed into the quay & did £2 K of damage splitting both sides of the hull & nearly bringing the mast down. (that was an expensive repair circa 1974)
 
DownWest said:
Great memories of past times, when yachting was a bit more demanding.. But, it would have far less 'fun', if the engine had been converted to coil ignition. The one I knew that was converted, started every time without hassle.

I am seriously tempted for use on the river here...
Click to expand...

Coil ignition .... my Snapdragon 23 had a Vire 6 ..... with REVERSE !! But it didn't run !!

I converted that to Coil Ignition ... used a coil from a scrapped Mini .... it ran then really well ... but ended up blowing its crankcase seals it ran so well !! Sold it to a guy who put it into a harbour boat .... after rebuilding it.

Funny story :

The Snap 23 was siting in the drive while I worked on her. I finished wiring up and decided to give it a whirl.

She span over nicely on the Dynastart and fired up ... gave her a few blips of throttle ... MAGIC !!

Wife started shouting at me ... I shut the Vire down and peered over the side to hear what she was shouting ....

When the engine started - it blew all the ***** out of the exhaust system straight down the passage alongside the garage ... straight into the fresh washing she'd just hung out to dry !!

No Sex that night !!
 
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