Buccaneer

[Tinman]

Hey everyone, picked me up a motor today. 1956 12 hp gale buccaneer model 12d13b. Average to better than average condition. Know the majority of it is the same as j/e. Is there anything to watch out for on these motors? Didn’t know if they had any flaws. Thanks. Bryan

[bobw]

Bryan,

Here is some service data info on this motor.

Bob

1937 Champion D2C Deluxe Lite Twin
1954 Johnson CD-11
1955 Johnson QD-16
1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18
1958 Johnson QD-19
1958 Johnson FD-12
1959 Johnson QD-20

“Every 20 minute job is only a broken bolt away from a 3-day project.”
"Every time you remove a broken or seized bolt an angel gets his wings."

[Tinman]

Thanks! Will look it over.

[frankr]

Lower crankshaft seal was a major powerhead killer. When they leak water gets into the crankcase and it will throw a rod. Highly suggest you change it. Some J/E had the same problem.

[Tinman]

Does it take a special puller to remove the seal? And do they still make a base gasket for the 12 hp? You mentioned the some j/e have the same seal problems, what ones where affected? Thanks.

[frankr]

Nah you can dig it out with a screwdriver or whatever. I’ll have to look up the gasket #. The troublesome seal number was 303804. Also used on some but not all 1955-56 15/25/30hp J/E motors. And all Gale 12/15 hp motors with rubber motor mounts.

[frankr]

Base gasket gets confusing. Original # was 303892. That was superseded by 377070 baffle and gasket kit which included a stainless steel baffle plate and two thinner gaskets. The baffle was supposed to keep the nasty away from the seal. Didn’t really help much. The thin gaskets were 304588. You can use two thin gaskets if you don’t have the baffle. J/E also used these parts. In fact, the Gale 12 is just a 15hp J/E but with smaller bore and different internal powerhead parts.

[Tinman]

Thank you so much. Makes me want to check all my 56 motors…i have a 56 30 hp javelin im working on now, almost done with the rebuild, would hate to have it ruined by a bad seal.

[frankr]

Assuming your Javelin has the original powerhead, you can tell if it has the bad seal by the model number suffix. If you have the latest parts book, that is.

EDIT: For example you might have a RJE-18E or a RJE-18C, the E or C telling the tale. Sorry, my computer ate my parts book when it died.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by frankr.

[Tinman]

Mine is a rje 18c. I have a parts manual. Will it show the difference?

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