About the Little Model Forty - New The outboard Shed

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British Seagull Little Model Forty

BRITISH SEAGULL OUTBOARD LITTLE MODEL FORTY



A picture of an original running model F, a 40cc with an amal carburettor and an unusual choke setup only used on this model and no other,
it looks like a 102 carburettor cover, but smaller.
The picture of model F and all data was provided by Jeremy Price.


The FV & FVP are about 56cc, the LS is 64cc
It seems to be that the F, stood for Forty.
FV, Forty Villiers, fitted with a Villiers carb, small gearbox, commonly known as a forty minus.
FVP, Forty Villiers, with a bigger gearbox or plus box, commonly known as a forty plus.
The LS, may mean Long Stroke, compared the early model fortys and so it was called a Super model forty, not a little forty.
Most common attributes to the little forty motors, not the LS, is that the tiller arm fitted to the centre of the crank case, the bronze transom bracket was plated as was the fuel pipe, the drive shaft tube is clamped to the base of the crankcase, the drive tube is also screwed into the gearbox, not clamped, you do get variations as this series was developed and improved.





The Early Series Forty Models. F, FV, FVP, LM and LS.




These notes are to assist in understanding the information in the Data Sheet. The columns in the table are headed:-

1. Model.
This consists of  F, FV, FVP.
LM, LS is a Super Model forty, but has some attributes of the little forty.

2. Serial Number.
The unique serial number of each engine.




3. Carburettor.
Amal carbs are recoded as A and Villiers as V. Some of the details of the Villiers are recorded:-
a) Throttle Stop. The two carb tops in the bottom of the photo show the 0.12 spigot which appears to act as a
Throttle Stop. It is recorded as TS, or if it is not present as No Throttle Stop, NTS.
b) Hole in Choke. If the choke shutter has an air hole it is recorded as HC or if there is no air hole it is recorded as NHC. In the photo the top shutter is HC.
c) Hole in Bowl. If the float bowl has a drain hole near the top of the bowl as shown in the photo it is recorded as HB and if no hole is present as NHB.

4. Tiller.
The type and length are recorded. Stub tiller as S and tilting tiller as T, followed by the length in inches.
a) Grip. If there is a Dover grip as in the top of the photo, which has 3 full length long grooves and 6 short centrally positioned grooves, it is recorded as DG3+6. Other grips will be recorded as G plus their description. The lower grip in the photo is possibly a later one. It is a lot smoother and has no Dover identification and with 6 shallow grooves, so it is recorded as G 6S.


5. Tank.
The photo shows 4 types of tanks. From left to right they are:-
a) Small Round – SR as fitted to F, FV and FVP. b) Canted Oval – CO for F, FV and FVP. .
c) The early LS oval tank wth the large edge rads of approx. 3/4”. d) The later LS oval with the smaller edge rads of approx. 7/16”.




The photo shows 4 types of fuel pipes. They are:-
a) In the top right is the Looped Fuel Pipe. Recorded as LFP.
b) In the top left is the metal ‘U’ shaped Fuel Pipe. Recorded as UFP.
c) In the bottom left is the Black Plastic Fuel Pipe. Recoded as PFP(B).
d) In the bottom right hand is the Clear Plastic Fuel Pipe. Recorded as PFP(C).


The photo shows 2 types of Fuel Caps. The slot referred to is the slot in the top of the bleed screw.
a) On the left is the Short Ear Narrow Slot version, in which the slot width is 0.10 and the height of the ears is approx. 0.35. Recorded as SENS.
b) On the right is the Tall Ear Wide Slot version, in which the slot width is 0.12 and the height of the ears is approx. 0.45. Recorded as TEWS.


6. Magneto.
The photo shows Magneto Covers and Magneto Baseplates.
a) In the top left is a Plain Cover. Recorded as P.
b) In the top right is a Cover stating ‘The best outboard In the World’. Recorded as In. c) In the bottom left is the Rimless Baseplate. Recorded as RB.
d) In the bottom right is the Half Rimless Baseplate. Recorded as HRB.
Flywheel.
The date of the Flywheel is shown as the last few digits at the end of an ident number,
stamped as shown in the bottom of this photo, as a month and year.
In this example it is 7-50 ie July 1950. Recorded as 7/50.



7. Propellor.
The number of blades and their shape are recoded.
A three blade Cloverleaf is recorded as 3C.
For the FVP and the LS the number of water inlet holes, which is either 2 or 3 are recoded.
8. Transom Bracket.
There were three different types:-
The early 4” plated one on the left with the thumbscrews on approx 2.25”centres.
Recorded as 4” P ‘inside’.
The later 4” plated one in the middle with the thumbscrews on approx 3.102 centres.
Recorded as 4” P.
The larger 5.4” engaged depth, with a 13/4” opening and the security bar on the port side on the right handside.
Recoded as 5.4”SBPort.
9. Miscellaneous.
This column is used for a variety of different information.
A. The Engine Support Lug.
The Original Engine Support Lug (on the left in the photo) is recorded as OESL. The New Engine Support
Lug (on the right in the photo) is recorded as NESL.

 
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