Thanks for all the suggestions. I think that mower would cost around $400 when new. It doesn't look that old. But I see a few of them out at the tip and the last one I saw also had a hole in the block. I could get that whole engine for $20 so that might be the way to go. All of these mowers seem to be missing the air filter cover for some reason.
I have a few aluminium soldering rods left over from another job. They didn't work for me back then so I am not confident they'll do the job this time either.
Thanks guys. look after yourself AVB.
