1954 seabee how far shall I delve?

[kscully]

I have a 54 Gale sea bee my dear uncle (who taught me to fish from day 1) left to me. It has been stored away for about 15 years and I have decided to ressurect it in his honor.
Let me start with what I have done to date and then ask your advise. I have disassembled the carb, given it a thorough cleaning and doped up the cork float. All in all I was pretty impressed with the carbs condition (I have seen worse on lawnmowers I have owned). After putting the carb back together (not on the motor) I have removed the flywheel to reveal two cracked, but still operable coils, two not great set of contacts and of course two condensers that just look like condensers. I was able to get all the electrical stuff from the great guys at my favorite NAPA store and will pick them up tomorrow. I also drained the 90 wieght from the lower unit as I read in a previous post. It also did not look too bad. OK heres my question... I have no reason to suspect that the impellar is in any worse condition than anything I have witnessed this far, so, in your opinion, should I go ahead and disassemble the lower unit and inspect things before I take the motor out on its first trip in years, or should a give it a run first. I felt real lucky to get the ignition parts and I don't know how available the parts are for the lower unit. Especially things I see in my parts book like gaskets and seals and bearings etc. etc. Any opinion or helpful hints you could offer will be appreciated. This is my first time delving into the marine motor abyss. Thanks for any advise. Ken

 

[twocyclemania]

Re: 1954 seabee how far shall I delve?

Everybody has their own advice. Mine would be that if you get it to run with the new electrical and it's pumping water; take it for a spin. I've started a number of 50's motors that had obviously been sitting for years. Most of them pump well. I try not to get involved in too many different parts of the motor at once. If something works; I leave it alone. I have found that the impellers that are round with a little leg tend to be in better condition than the ones that have 'blades.' The rubber blades may have sat in one position (compressed) and they tend to be shot. This was the case with a 70's Chrysler 6 I picked up. Not used in years and the 'blades' were compressed and she was not pumping. The other type seem to do well. Don't know what you have.

As for the lower unit: Just drain the lube and refill. Opening them up may give you more problems than you want. A little water leaking into the lower unit gear housing is fairly normal. Just change the lube on occasion.

Check for some other replies and go with your gut! Good luck!

 

[kscully]

Re: 1954 seabee how far shall I delve?

Everybody has their own advice. Mine would be that if you get it to run with the new electrical and it's pumping water; take it for a spin. I've started a number of 50's motors that had obviously been sitting for years. Most of them pump well. I try not to get involved in too many different parts of the motor at once. If something works; I leave it alone. I have found that the impellers that are round with a little leg tend to be in better condition than the ones that have 'blades.' The rubber blades may have sat in one position (compressed) and they tend to be shot. This was the case with a 70's Chrysler 6 I picked up. Not used in years and the 'blades' were compressed and she was not pumping. The other type seem to do well. Don't know what you have.

As for the lower unit: Just drain the lube and refill. Opening them up may give you more problems than you want. A little water leaking into the lower unit gear housing is fairly normal. Just change the lube on occasion.

Check for some other replies and go with your gut! Good luck!

Thanks. I too share your thoughts on if it ain't broke don't fix it. I think I will give it a run (if I get it started) before tearing it completely apart .

 

[F_R]

Re: 1954 seabee how far shall I delve?

Do you have the model with a neutral clutch? Do as you want, but those tend to suddenly shed the blades off an old impeller, resulting in sudden overheating and probable piston damage. I say replace it, or sooner or later, you will burn the motor up. But it is ok to start it up first to see that everything else is working.

BTW, that impeller is obsolete. But I have a new one if you decide you want it.

 

[kscully]

Re: 1954 seabee how far shall I delve?

Yes I do have the nuetral option. One of the reasons I didn't want to get into the impellar was because everywhere I looked I could not find a replacement. If you have one that you could part with I would be most interested and appreciative. Please let me know how to go about hooking up, as I am new to the forum and not sure of all the rules as they apply to transactions. Thanks again FR.

 

[F_R]

Re: 1954 seabee how far shall I delve?

Yeah, we need to talk off-forum. I sent you a PM (Private Message) with my e-mail address. If you are signed in, there will be a Welcome box at the top of the screen, with a "Notifications" box next to it. Click it to retrieve your PM's.

Likewise,if you want to send a PM to anybody, just click on their "name" to the left side of this screen.

 

[kscully]

Re: 1954 seabee how far shall I delve?

Well the motor started and ran pretty good for the first time...my question is how much cooling water should I be seeing from the three fins? It appreared that very little was coming out, but the motor didn't seem to be overheating. My next upgrade will be replacing the impellar. Has anyone any helpful hints in this department?

 

[F_R]

Re: 1954 seabee how far shall I delve?

The water just slobbers and blows out those slots. Should be happening at all speeds, including slow idle.

1. Drain oil from the gearcase (or you will wind up dumping it on your shoes)

2. Undo and remove the shift cable clamp at the neutral lever (WARNING!! see # 7)

3. Remove the four bolts holding gearcase to motor. Lower away and remove the gearcase from the 1/4" plate.

4. Separate the 1/4" plate from the exhaust housing and pull it down and away. The shift cable will come with it. So will the water pump and drive shaft.

5. You will see the water pump attached to the top of the 1/4" plate. Remove the 4 screws to take it apart

6. Reassemble in reverse order. Not to worry, the shift cable feeds up through a copper tube.

7. WARNING! If the top end of the shift cable is frayed, do not pull it down. It will be nearly impossible to get it back up through the tube. You will have to do it a bit differently if it is frayed.

 

[kscully]

Re: 1954 seabee how far shall I delve?

I am planning to get into it today after work, I noticed that when I had it running the prop didn,t disengage with the lever. Could the cable be broken or could there be another problem? Thanks FR for the advise, I hate to go into things blind.
OK I got to the impeller and it looks and feels fine. Is the impeller suppose to be larger than the housing it fits in? To get it back together I had to rotate the shaft until the blades collapsed and then I was able to put the housing back together. Is this normal or could the impeller be the wrong size? I also tried to blow air through the cooling tube without hearing it come out anywhere. I am not sure how the motor gets the water so I'm not sure I am suppose to hear anything. Do these get blocked?

 

[F_R]

Re: 1954 seabee how far shall I delve?

Could be the cable is out of adjustment. When you get in there, you will see how it works. Working the shift lever pulls the cable up, which rotates a trip lever at the bottom end. The trip lever interrupts a tab on the neutral clutch spring, which causes the spring to unwind a bit, enough to lose its grip on the hub. That's neutral.

The tab could be broken off the spring too.

 

[kscully]

Re: 1954 seabee how far shall I delve?

Thanks, I will have to look at the parts book to see if the spring looks like mine. I saw how the cable pulls the lever but it didn't look close enough to the spring to do anything. I edited my last quote can you give me any ideas on the cooling tube or the old impeller. It seemed to be in good shape although it was different looking than the new one I bought. I'll try to send pictures.