Carby is clean, waiting on new fuel diaphragm and tank gasket, just got notice they were posted today. In the process found a split crankcase breather tube grommet and am still looking for a replacement. Only online store I found in Aus will cost me close to 30 bucks including shipping, which is um pricey.. Also found oil in the breather tube so pulled the breather assembly and looks like it's been tipped at some point. Cleaned the breather by agitating it in petrol and it is flapping fine now, so just need to find the best way to clean the valve chamber.
As I can't put it all back together because of waiting on parts, I decided this morning to strip the deflector. Half the paint is gone off the face the grass hits and there's surface rust. I may strip the whole mower down and repaint the deck at some point, but I just for now want to halt the deflector getting any rustier. It actually was pretty low fuss, just used paint stripper, gave it a going over with a wire brush, then a second coat of stripper and fine steel wool. All came off and now it is soaking in a vinegar bath to remove the surface rust. Supermarket girl looked at me a bit strangely buying 12 litres of vinegar. Said I really liked chips.
