Hello OD King , Late last year I was given by a mate who was moving house a plethora of small engine tools of various ages. From an Australian made Villiiers engine ( late 50"s from what i can determine by the serial number) that sits on a Dangar Gem home milker base which has been adapted to run an IBC ( Intercontinental Boring Co: ) cast iron 1" pump, to a Seagull outboard , various mowers and whipper snippers and even a petrol powered compressor on a sturdy trolley that looks nothing like a compressor as you would envision one. All of these were in or still are in different stages of seizure but with a little work and patience after my day job at the office i have managed to get the Villiers pump , a whipper snipper and various mowers, unbound and up and running well.
The next on the list from under the tarp was an old unidentifiable outboard that he had picked up from a garage sale with the intent of restoring. This smallish OB has no tags, serial no:, or branding on it and has a petrol tank that has been knocked off another machine at some stage. ( Side note: My mate informed when we were loading the items into my trailer that it was a four stroke so i took his word for it and didn't look to closely to argue as it looked like a two stroke to me and it was heavy enough to be a four so I let is slide) .
Lead up to the Mishap: As the OB is heavy and cumbersome I decided to separate the prop leg from the engine and after hours of WD40, elbow grease, heat and swearing I got the leg apart from the engine and placed it on the work bench. I then proceeded to take the covers off it to discover that the engine turned over fine and it had a ton of compression and it was only the cover hitting the magneto and the prop leg that was locking it up. There was an insect nest of some description in the Carby which had the consistency of the sap of a gum tree which went from the air filter side to the inside of the bore and as the piston was at the bottom of the stroke ( yes it is a 2 stroke ) the rings were right in harms way and were congealed to the piston with the remnants of the same nest. Off with the head and out with the piston. The rings were glued in rock solid to the piston with this goo but there was not a trace of scoring on the bore or piston so I began to get excited that this could be an alright engine if i could get rid of the sugary nest with out breaking or scratching anything. The carby which turns out to be a Villiiers B12/2 has more nooks and crannies and I couldn't find anything in my cleaning arsenal to get rid of it. Fortunately my lovely Wife, which she is, came out to the shed to tell me she was going shopping and it was my turn to cook that night, both of which I didn't want to hear, so I showed her my dilemma and she said " Oh, it looks like dark caramel" . The penny dropped, I got out my camp stove and an old tin can and boiled the stripped down Carb and barrel clean as a whistle. Still no Mishap.
The Mishap: Thanks for reading thus far but I wanted to convey at what late stage the mishap occurred and how much thought and care had taken to this point to get this tough old monkey of an engine running again and give it a second chance of some fun on the water and me the satisfaction of get it going again. The clamps that secure the engine to the transom on a boat are still rusted solid to the leg so to give the engine a test run, after checking the points, testing for spark and reassembling I bolted the motor / engine to an old plank cut off and rigged up a plastic mower tank to it. I filled the tank with a little 2 stroke juice, clamped the plank and motor in a B& D work bench outside and then noticed that the centrifugal clutch which I had been using to turn the engine over with while on the shed bench was still attached and I should take it off before it runs. So I went and got some pull cord a spark plug wrench and a spanner to remove it. At this stage I was called inside for a bite to eat and a computer malfunction emergency for which I washed my hands and went inside to take care of. Now the substitute tank has no pet [Censored] nor does the carb so the bowl filled up in the duration of lunch and computer glitch. I walked back outside my eyes adjusting to the light, shook the B&D work bench for wobble and check for it being top heavy. All good. Better check if I can tug the pull start without a rollover so I grabbed the handle and gave a " not trying to start, just turning over yank" and what do you reckon happened ? She started. The throttle link was attached to a mower type throttle lever on the engine when i got it and I hadn't loosened the cable up as yet so the link on the carby was just flopping around, so it didn't just start it was off and running. Before I could test the kill button , rip the plug wire off or choke it dead the engine made up for the years of lost RPM's and the centrifugal clutch expanded to its capacity and beyond without the clutch drum ( still attached to the prop leg ) and disintegrated into more pieces than I can find.
My heart sank and I have been kicking myself ever since ( yesterday). So I will attempt to load up some pictures of the OB which is running and idling well , less the clutch pieces, If anyone can tell me if they recognize what it might be or where I could possibly find a clutch for it, it would be greatly appreciated. I suspect a Kirby maybe but that is just a guess.
