G'day
As someone who only discovered this site yesterday I am a bit reluctant to dive in too deep with too much info, but basically I have managed to come by a Scott Bonnar 14" Model 45 that I intend to use to manage my lawn. Initially I had planned to simply get it serviced and running. But after having read through the pages here and scrapped away some of the dust and gunk from the machine, I think it probably deserves a bit more than that. I have a very basic understanding of machinery, but have never really got my hands dirty, so am a little nervous about the project. I am certainly not up on the lingo, so please forgive me if I cause confusion when describing something or asking for help.
Given what I know of its history (was used on a suburban yard for about 5 years (circa 1970-75) and then put in a shed until this week) and having had a good look at it and comparing it to pictures I found in these pages, I am very confident that it is entirely original and in pretty good nick. The engine turns over when I pull the cord, the throttle and clutch cables are intact and functioning. The catcher only has one small ding in it, and the sides of it and the mower itself are not very badly scratched. The cylinder turns easily and smoothly as do the rollers at the front and the back. A lot of the original decals are in pretty good condition. There appears to be no cracks to the external structure and under the oily gunk the paint looks like new. It does have a lot of surface rust away from the oily gunk, but nothing has rusted through. Given it has only had about 5 years of active service I am hoping that there has not been too much wear and tear and that very little will need to be replaced.
My one big concern with embarking on a project like this is me. I do not really know where to start, and I am keen not to cause damage. As an example, I was keen to get the chain guard off this morning and have a look inside, but the screws that hold it on are pretty stuck. I have sprayed a bit of WD40 around the screw heads but do not think it will do much good. I do not want to damage the screw head (my biggest screwdriver probably does not have a big enough tip either) but know that it is going to take some elbow grease. I guess I do not have the experience to know how hard to push, or any of the tricks that make what seems difficult, straightforward. As such, I think that I will be on here from time to time, reading through threads to get some knowledge, and asking questions of those that do have that experience and are keen to help.
At this stage I plan to get the bloke who services my rotary mower over to have a look at it and see if we can start it. I will take his advice on what he thinks I should do from a mechanical point of view and then start to make decisions about the cosmetics (I think it deserves to be brought back to its former glory, but time will tell).
I have taken some photos and am keen to share if people are interested. It is a 14" Model 45 with the 2.25 hp Briggs and Stratton motor and is the 14" model included in the "New Breed 45's" catalogue that I came across in a thread here. From what I learned on these pages yesterday, I am pretty sure it was made in January 1969 (the Code stamped on the side of the motor is 6901153 I think - there is a fair bit of rusty gunk there but he first 2 numbers are definitely 69). The model number is 60202 (I think) and the type number seems to be 0198 01. The plate riveted to the base that the engine sits on identifies it as mower number 45 05915.
Anyway, if anyone has any tips off the bat, I would be very pleased to hear them. Thanks for a great forum too. From the bits and pieces I have read, it sounds very civil, and provides and ton of info.
Cheers
