OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Other Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers Pope Rotary valve 2T

G'day guys well I'm getting there not much to do now, few sneak pics before the old Pope lives again! ..I'm a fan! also I found a better muffler with way less rust pitting

Dont look at the paint...Nooo dont look. But, but its sooo beautiful! Drools Homer style* Mmmm pope...Baahaaaa. You officially now suck, as your restos are bettering mine sobs.

An amazing resto Chris, you should be proud of your ever increasing skills.

A perfect and worthy Machine to showcase Pope for the Archives!

Well done Mate:)

Thank's Mal but I'm still an apprentice from what guys like you and alwil can do restoring a machine I look on in awe... With this old Pope I'm working on who knew there was such a proud old Aussie mower under all the years of crap it's awesome!.. On a side note this old Pope is on the bay and has the shark teeth look going on, and looks from the factory to me did the one you have look anything like it maybe not a home done job?.. Cheers here is a pic..

Lols....Yep thats him Mate, Hideous creature. No its definately no home job and is the same as mine. Why the teeth? No idea, except for less resistance in longer grass....More likely its just to scare away the deaf crickets and frogs so they dont get chopped?

While your model still retains some style, the same cannot be said for this model! Its a really ugly machine! I saw this a week back, but thought not to pass it in lest your eyes be blinded and you turned to stone, due to its Gorgon type qualites. Oh and it was in Melbourne and really overpriced.

The only good thing about mine was the fact it had a villiers mk3 on it....

And Just a heads up....If you were thinking of befriending this Creature, then Ill be forced to retract every nice comment Ive given! Baaahaaaaa.

Hi all,

I think the 'teeth' styling was meant to make the mower look more aggressive -
like it's eating devouring the grass ...

What is interesting for me is that an Australian mainstream lawnmower manufacturer was using
Clinton Engines - with their roller bearing bottom end ...

p.s. Chris's machine and Blue's SB 35 would look awesome in an ODK Calendar!



All very interesting.
-----------------------------------
JACK.

Chris125

You get my award for style in recording your restoration, and
the stunning restoration itself. ODK is very lucky to have talented restorers
of garden machinery. They show the rest of us how it's done.

It's an art form:-

Thanks guys, and buggered if I know how you did that Jack .. Few pics not done much been to busy mowing lol.. Got the tank shroud decal done never made decals before (not easy ) think they look ok kind of made it up as I went along ...

Decals look amazing Mate! Now whats with the Victa parts eh? Choke clamp and thottle control....Any idea what throttle this Pope ran Chris?

Now being rarer than hen's teeth I even picked a few of them up off the lawn today hens teeth that is lol.. I was hoping you could tell me what the correct parts looked like I may have them in the bottom of a box if I knew what they looked like.. I tried the snorkel under the handlebars as I think it should be (from pics of old Popes I've seen) but it just looks nasty with the Victa clamp ...At any rate I've seen a lot of old mowers in the last week most I have never seen or heard of before crazy how little I know of old mowers but no old Popes to finish this one off .... Fingers crossed I will find an old Pope with the parts I need..

Hello Chris125, Bluegmhtmonaro and ODK members,

Keeping the issue of hen-related dentistry to the side , I would like to thank you again
for the magnificent restoration of this machine.

You have asked about the air snorkel and how it looked and I do want to say something here...

The inverted "V" handle and Pope carby are signifiers of the Pope model you have.
I think it means this is a 320-5 model, or maybe later.

I believe that this handle design did not have a snorkel at all.
I think it should have the Pope torpedo shaped paper-cartridge filter mounted off the carby.
In any case, I can find no evidence of any snorkel used without that primary filtration.

I believe the throttle control is machine correct.

All very historical.
------------------------------------
JACK.

Hi to CyberJack, Chris125, Bluegmhtmonaro and ODK members,
Looking at the second pic in Post #60332 in Chris's thread, at the carby and air filter, (Just behind the yellow circle) this may be the answer as to what carby and filter was fitted.....

Here is a pic of the carby (less the air filter) that I believe would have been fitted....

I reakon the odds are good you found teeth with your lot mate! Lols.

Dont ask me, you and the chickens are the Authority on Pope now, ha ha.

I agree with Jack and Deejay on the integrated filter/carb assy.

Ive seen the other examples with your current snorkel/filter style and they look generic, BUT not entirely out of the equation yet,so perhaps not by coincidence. But Id doubt youd find Victa Rotomo brackets as factory fitment on Pope.

Another thing to note though is how good the Snorkel flows and fits in relation to the mower....It seems a really good fit and suits, just like on the other examples with your current set up..

In regards to the Throttle, its definately Victa (sheerline era) and I doubt Pope would have used this,as their Parts for these Models are Unique, BUT I wont discount it until I see a proven accurate Image...Incidentally this control is seen on many models, but Im sure it was because this was the most common controller used as a generic replacement on many mowers in this era. I have about 20...

Keep looking for evidence, We may have one sitting in our stashes...just need to see a close up original.
We can be the throttle Hunters"now as i still dont have one for the 35...because only you know who has one!!! Lmao

In anycase....Who cares for now as its Sooooooo Shiny, people will never know! Lols

Here ya go Mate...Problem solved! You can use both filters..lols.



Try and find this catcher...Its right next to your collection of hens teeth, lols

Unfortunately you still cant see the throttle control but it does show you its correct position and cable run...

Also this ad appears to show your model(RH Carby) and further confirmation of the Carby/filter setup...

Another odd thing is, the only other snorkels and filter screen images ive seen like yours are on Popes....Very strange.

Thanks guys I know what I'm looking for now ,I don't like my chances of ever finding a catcher didn't think they even had one but will keep my eye out you never know

[The History Record for this machine now has a section on the 320 catcher - ed.]

Hi all contributors here

I have incorporated some photos into the ODK record for the 320 model HERE.

I have now made available a full parts list for the early Popes HERE.

The photo that Chris supplied of the other machine that Administrator Deejay reposted does
show what I think should be fitted to Chris' machine.

Blue's first photo (above) shows the arrangement used for the models 320-02 to 320-04.
Pope made some dramatic and expensive changes for the 320-05. It changed the intake manifold
from the left-hand side to the right-hand side. Why?

Because the original engine introduced on the odd-looking 320-01 was built that way and did
not have a snorkel. It had the single vertical bar handle.

So ... why all the expense? My guess is that the change was needed because Pope wanted to use
recoil starters. The first Pope rotary had a lanyard start. Given that most folks are right-
handed, I believe Pope engineers wanted carby controls moved to the R.H. side - so users would not
have to move from L.H. side carby priming to R.H. side starting. They would have also known that
the 4-strokes used that logic. The hole in the base (below the carby) is the legacy exhaust hole
used on machines with mufflers on that side.

There is one interesting twist to this story. Some Pope carburettors was also fitted with
the Clinton 4-stroke air-cleaner on some models! (see parts lists).

In any case, what I have said is largely academic. My belief that the second style handle (fitted to Chris')
looks fine with a snorkel, even if that handle was not designed to take one.

This has been a personally rewarding posting to follow; to see how Chris started with an
old Pope, and turned it into a first-class restoration.

All one for the record.
-----------------------------------
JACK.

A History Record is now available for this lawnmower.
View the Model 320 record HERE.

The rest is history.
--------------------------------
JACK.

There is a 320 02-4 on Ebay currently...With catcher! Images may be useful.

Thanks Mal 1st pics I've ever seen of the catcher, What a bugger it's in Vic If that mower was in QLD Id buy it in a sec.... That 320 looks to have all I need to finish mine close to how it was from the factory..
I have pulled mine back out of the shed,there was a few little things I needed to do before I could fire it up but its all done and ready to start will make a video of 1st start up over this long weekend can't wait to hear it run again .....

Hello Chris and HT6

Chris, these catchers do come up for sale occasionally.
In the History Forum I have recently included a brochure for the catcher.
Also, a couple of photos of a tram with a huge billboard advertising this catcher.
By 1960, if a mower maker couldn't offer a side catcher mower, they were history.

Cheers
---------------------------
JACK.

G'day guys I finally got around to firing up the old Pope, Made sure the carby was clean (there is a spring for the slide its not in the pic) runs good lots of power.. Here is a vid


[video][/video]

And here is a vid of it mowing I like it!, oh yeah don't mind my DIY airbox it was raining
[video][/video]

Awwww...Its all Dirty lols.

Awesome!

For some reason I always thought it ran an Amal carby. The Carby pictured is actually an ESS Unit. It appears to be a Modified/enhanced design adjustable jet 3F Victa Carby. I have one adjustable Victa version from a Tiger industrial. Is this the correct unit for your Pope Mate?

Interesting in the fact, ive never seen another ESS branded carb on anything other than a Victa

The early rotary valve Popes all ran Aussie-made carbies, as far as I know. Ours did, at any rate.

I'd say you're correct in picking it as an ESS; these would have only been fitted to 1950's-on Aussie-made engines, I'd expect. Our tariff barriers again!

It's an interesting question; apart from Victa and Pope, who else was manufacturing [not assembling, like Kirby] complete small engines in that era?

Hi I am doing up one of these at the moment can you tell me what colour paint you used and where did you get it from also the paint code.