OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Reel-Type Mowers Scott Bonnar Model 33 Lawn King - Restoration

Hi DeeJay,

Sorry, but no Green in Lawn King's, that colour was exclusive to genuine Scott Bonnar's sold at full retail price in the smaller stores. There had to be something in being an exclusive Scott Bonnar Dealer and that was to sell the Premium machine.

Cheers,
BB

Hi DeeJay
Thanks for the colour info most appreciated.
Is that your Lawn King? Looks good!
Is it just me but do a majority of the unrestored SB's I see have a dent on the front of the Chain/Belt cover? I only say this because mine has a similar dent to the Gold/white one that DeeJay posted and even the one I have for parts has a dent like it too.

and sorry just to clarify when you said

you are only talking about the gold yes? not the white of the engine as well. I only say this because i'm pretty sure the engine is gloss white.
I hope these questions don't seem too stupid I am just compiling my shopping list and want do this machine justice for the resto with everything as close as it can be for when it came out of the factory.

Cheers
Kym

Hi Kym, sorry to cause confusion...When I said gold and white, I was of course referring to hammertone gold for the chassis and grassbox (catcher), and gloss white for the engine.
The machine in the photos is not mine, I just happened to have the pics in my archives....
BB, thanks for clarifying that for us....so we can now say with confidence that the Model 33 came in 3 hammertone colours;
Gold, Pacific Blue and Silver.

Regarding the Model 45 SB, yes Kym, they were all green hammertone until the takeover by Rover Mowers in 1980....then the transitional machines, the Rover-Scott Bonnars were painted in a solid colour, and finally the Rover 45 which was powder-coated.

Regarding the dent in the chain case cover....I guess that is a particularly vulnerable area on the Model 33 when navigating around gardens, edges etc...on the Model 45, it it protected by the height adjuster.
Best of luck with the resto Kym,

Hi Kym,

I'll chime in here if that's OK as Darryl is probably a tad busy this morning.

I'll just clarify what DeeJay has previously posted as he is correct.

The colours used on the frames are all Hammertones, but the Engines themselves were sourced from the various engine manufacturers and they painted them at there own factories in there own colours, thus the Briggs Engines were International Orange, Grey and Black, while the Kirby's were also Orange and White as is yours.

Where this changes is in some of the earlier machines such as the "Supercut" which had it's engines repainted in the frame colour as they were a different green from the Villiers Factory in Ballarat and it would've looked silly with two shades of green being used on the same machine. Normally you would want a deliberate contrast between the engine and frame colours. Also I think you'll find that a deal would've been struck between SB and the engine supplier to supply engines a tad cheaper if the engine builders colour scheme was left, thus advertising the engine brand more predominantly and creating awareness, something along the lines of "Scott Bonnar Powered by Briggs & Stratton".

I hope I've clarified paint finishes for you thus giving you a better insight as it can be somewhat confusing.

Also just about every SB chain / Belt cover has been slightly to massively dented at the front corner due to hitting concrete path edges etc. They were never dented from the factory that's for sure.

Cheers,
BB


PS, I've just written this post while Darryl must've been doing the same and as such it seems a bit out of sync.

Hi BB, you must have been typing as I was posting, but thanks for the extra info on the engine colours...
I think Kym will be on the right track now, mate


PS: Don't forget that Briggs also had a 2.5HP engine used on the 14" SB that was painted silver.

Great!

Thanks heaps guys I reckon I have the info I need to get this rebuild underway!

I'll post progress shots as I go along

Really appreciate all the help/info that CyberJack, BonnarBloke and Deejay have posted.You guys are a wealth of knowledge.


Many thanks
Kym

Hi All,

While this is a Model 45 Lawn King, this mower displays the blue livery with the same decal as shown on the silver version. I though that I would add this just for completeness of discussion regarding liveries and decals.




Cheers,

Sir Chook

Hi DeeJay,

Not to be silly but I did mention the Silver / Grey engine in the post about paint a few spots above this one.

Just for the record there were also Grey 2.25 HP engines fitted to the 14 inch machines along with the 2 and 2.5 HP units in that same series.

Yes you are correct I was typing while you posted that earlier post thus it looked a bit like we were talking over each other.

Cheers,
BB

Hi BB, I misunderstood your terminology...to me, grey is a solid colour....silver is a metallic finish, and that's what I was referring to. No probs mate, all good.

Hi everyone.

Its been a little while. I'm just starting to gather together the parts, paint etc. for my build and I'm wondering if anyone knows a spray painter that can paint hammertone in the Adelaide area? Or can I do it myself?

I went to an auto paint store today and they can match the colour for me and said I can mix 1-1.5% oil or silicone compound into the paint to get the hammertone effect if I was to do it myself.

I have access to a sand blaster at work so its easy to strip the paint off and prep the surfaces.

Also I seem to remember someone mentioning (I think it was Bonnar Bloke) that there is someone that does the re production stickers for my lawn king anyone know who it was and how I can get in contact with them?

Any input as always would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Hi Kymbom2g,

As far as doing the job yourself you'll need a spray gun and compressor to do the job satisfactorily. Maybe you could tell me where in Adelaide you are as I could possibly help you out if you get stuck.

Silicone is definitely the product that requires to be added to the paint.

As far as transfers are concerned you could contact "willingworker" on this forum as he's the major seller on eBay that reproduces most of the vintage mower decals, he's also a fellow Adelaidean.

Cheers,
BB

I have a 33001 as well and require a full sprocket set for it.

These are two lawn king mowers models 33001 and mower numbers 33-20559 and 33-20945 and progress on the make-over of the 20945

on another note I am not sure about there not be-ing a green version of the 33 lawn king as I have one,model 33001,mower number33-20633 which falls between the two gold mowers in the earlier post




as can be seen by the colour under the I.D plate and inside of the chain cover,i would doubt this mower has been repainted but the drive seems to have been repaced with a gold one. regards,john

Hello Voljon

Thank you. You could have the world's largest collection
of Lawn Kings there.

It's not common to see two 33001s side by side.
It's hard to get a feel for the new colour from the photo.
Are you happy with the choice? Is it a stock colour?

The green one? Do you feel it is a re-spray?
There seems to be paint on bolt heads that were not originally
painted....?

I have recorded the serial numbers.

---------------------------
Jack

hello jack,i am pretty sure the light green is a respray, but I don't know about the green on the inside of the chain cover. maybe the cover is off another model.i will check the covers on some other scott bonnars and see if they interchange.regards john

G'day John

That's interesting.
Perhaps, as you say, the cover is a replacement.

Cheers
-------------------
Jack

Hi John and Jack,

I've noticed in the photo of the two unrestored machines sitting side by side that one uses a smaller "winged decal" on the chain case while the other uses the standard "Lawn King" decal as per normal. That small decal is a bit of an abnormality I must say.

Cheers,
BB

Hi BB and John

That would be the usual 33 one, perhaps fitted in error.
The earliest 33s had the 'blob' one.





Cheers
-------------------
Jack

jack,do you mean that the earlier belt drive 33 has the bonmow decal.i have two of the belt drive mowers, 33-07963 and 33-10578 but the decals are long gone.i removed the handle grips on the green model 33 lawn king and found gold paint, so I now have 3 of them
regards,john