A new engine - it may well come to that.
But one of the things I like about restoring anything, not just lawn mowers, is putting something back to as close as I can to the day it came out of the factory. So if I am force to replace parts, I like to replace as few as possible.
Consumables are slightly different - rings, plugs etc are fair game, but major components, I try not to replace, even if it costs me more money to restore rather than replace, I like to keep them original - but having said that - I also like to make them look like new - so I like to paint them too, which is not the paint from the factory, but I do try to get the colours as correct as I can.
So for this mower - first option is a rebore - if that's not an option, a new barrel, and if the bottom end is rusted up (likely) I'll see what I can do to get it going with the current bits
Last resort will be a new engine with the existing cases.
That's just my philosophy on restoration - we all like different things - and there is no right or wrong way to "restore" something - it's whatever gives us pleasure I guess.
Hopefully it won't be as bad as it looks - and I'm going to go and clean it up right now - more photos to follow.
Polybus
