1957 Gale 5hp Cooing Question

[Swivelhart]

I just bought this little engine from an antique shop. It may be worthless I don't know...but it was cheap and looked fun to tinker on. My question is does this little engine have an impeller? The leg looks so skinny I dont know how they could fit one in there! Also any leads on parts diagrams?

 

[F_R]

Re: 1957 Gale 5hp Cooing Question

What a beautiful looking motor!! If you don't want it, send it to me.

The impeller (properly called a "rotor") is forward of the propeller. It should be a close fit on the eccentric and just touch the housing as some point. It should have a space on the opposite side. As the shaft turns, that space appears at the inlet hole and progresses around to the outlet port, where it disappears. That moving space is what grabs a gulp of water at the intake and moves it to the outlet. The rotors swell up from exposure to grease and that closes up the space.

Whatever you do, DO NOT remove the water covers from the sides of the powerhead!!!

Pump rotors are available from Brian Wilcox. http://www.chrystine.com/impellers/order.html

 

[Swivelhart]

Re: 1957 Gale 5hp Cooing Question

Thanks for your help. I was wondering what those plates were on the side. I never saw those before. These little outboards do have a lot of character. Do you have one yourself?

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: 1957 Gale 5hp Cooing Question

Lots of us AOMCI (Antique Outboard Motor Club Inc) guys love those little Gales...no matter the brand, Buccaneer, etc.

 

[F_R]

Re: 1957 Gale 5hp Cooing Question

Thanks for your help. I was wondering what those plates were on the side. I never saw those before. These little outboards do have a lot of character. Do you have one yourself?

I don't have a 5hp at the moment, but I do have a couple of 3hps. The last 5hp I had was the 5D10, which uses the same lower unit as a Johnson TN (which I also had one of). I took both of them out on the lake at the same time and compared performance. The Gale was 20% faster than the Johnson by GPS!!! Same lower unit, same prop, same boat, etc. It also was a lot louder. Win some, lose some. Anyhoo, I sold both of them.

 

[bktheking]

Re: 1957 Gale 5hp Cooing Question

Nice find and nice shape, I have the 3 hp version of the "buccaneer" equivalent sold under "viking" here in Canada.

As far as manuals:

http://www.richardlpaquette.ca/vikingmanuals.htm

any of the 5D models should work, just find the same as your model.

 

[Swivelhart]

Re: 1957 Gale 5hp Cooing Question

I was taking a brief look at it last night and found that I cannot turn it over. Maybe siezed. I didn't even bother to check at the store because it was so cheap and even if I hung it on the wall of my shop it was worth it. But!!! Has anyone had any experience unsiezing an outboard before (assuming it is not major internal damage?)

 

[bktheking]

Re: 1957 Gale 5hp Cooing Question

Probably just stuck from sitting. Take out the plugs, lay it head up and pour some pbblaster down into the cylinder and let it sit for a couple of days. Pull the cowls off, top cover and put a socket on the flywheel and see if it breaks free.

 

[bigrockets]

Re: 1957 Gale 5hp Cooing Question

I have used this method on many Triumph, BSA and Norton motorcycle engines that were seized after long stints in storage. If you can find a replacement head gasket get one and remove the cylinder head. Use a good penetrating oil like Kroil (Amazon.com) or PB Blaster. Spray it into the cylinder to completely soak the piston and rings. The most likely problem is that the rings have frozen to the cylinder walls. Every few hours spray it again for at least 24 hours. Kroil will move into the rust area and break the surface tension of the rust. Try rocking it back and forth with the propellor shaft to see if it breaks loose. Using the pull starter may break the starter which may be hard to get. If you can put a socket on the flywheel nut that works good also. You can also try GENTLY tapping the piston head with a block of wood or large dowel and a rubber hammer. This may not work if the piston was at bottom dead center so GENTLY is the operative word. If you get it free check the cylinder for pitting or scoring. It may require honing. If you see rust streaks as you rotate the engine just keep wiping them off and using more penetrant until the cylinder wipes clean. If you dont want to remove the head you can try spraying oil into the spark plug hole but sometimes there is no choice but to pull the head. Your motor is really nice with original paint and decals. It is well worth getting it running. The Antique Outboard Motor Collector Club guys are a great resource and if you you ever get a chance to go to one of their events you will have a great time and see a lot of beautiful old engines. http://www.aomci.org/about.htm

 

[F_R]

Re: 1957 Gale 5hp Cooing Question

The advice is good, but there is no cylinder head on this motor. Anything you do has to through the spark plug hole.

 

[Swivelhart]

Re: 1957 Gale 5hp Cooing Question

Interesting that without a remvable head how much can be done? What if pistons need replacing or anything like that! I shot some junk down the cylinders today during lunch. One cylinder spark plug seemed real hard to remove and inside looked like sandy junk. I will turn it upside down tonight and shoot some stuff up there and see what falls out!

 

[F_R]

Re: 1957 Gale 5hp Cooing Question

Looks like the pistons are at top and bottom dead center. That makes it a bit more complcated.

But to answer your question, if all else fails and the pistons have to come out, you have to separate the powerhead from the crankcase. A fairly major job.

You might want to remove the carburetor and look in the crankcase to see what it looks like in there. If rust and crud, you will only make it worse by breaking it free and attempting to run it.