G’day Folks
I’ve decided to fix up a couple of mowers from the “skilled user” range of the early 70’s.
It’s going to be a matter of making one good one out of two in each case. My hope is to rebuild them so they last another 30 years.
1974 Super 24
I have one that is almost complete but flogged out with all wheels pointing in the wrong direction. The other stopped working 15 years ago and repairs were started but never finished. There’s a few bits missing, owing to a box of parts being misplaced. The original high output full crank motor is now sitting on my bench for an autopsy. It’ll need rebuilding as there’s no compression.
The flogged out machine is a bit of an unknown quantity as it’s been sitting in the back of an old shed for donkey’s ages, while the one that the rebuild was started on we can’t remember why it was pulled apart. It obviously has no compression now but I’m unsure if that was the original fault.
One thing for certain is that I need a good set of front wheels. Seems like there’s not much around. I was thinking I’d order a pair from the current B&S iteration.
“1974 160 Special”
I also have two of these (well one might be a very slightly different year) however, one is missing it’s motor. I suspect it was purloined for a go-cart a few years back. The chassis on both of them is in good nick. The complete one hasn’t been run for a few years so there’s likely to be gremlins lurking.
On initial inspection it appears I have enough bits to make one complete mower without any smashed bits. I’ll be rebuilding most things though as they’ve both done a fair bit of work and I can do it in a job lot with the super 24s.
Again, the 160 Special will need wheels.
My concern, aside from finding good wheels, is that I’ll not find two good big ends among the three motors I have. When I’ve pulled full crank motors apart the crank case bearings are frequently r/s and they might also need reboring and an oversized piston but the big ends seem to be more durable. That might just be my specific experience though.
With the wheels I’d really like to find something better but the axel sizes are uncommon, 9/16 I think? My somewhat disappointing conclusion is that I’ll have to order wheels from the current B&S iterations of my mowers. Any better ideas?
Cheers
Ironbark
