Thanks, yes colour is a bit more of a Chevy type orange,but hard to get unless a professional painter can do a bit of mixing.
Base I got is an 82-145 model, seems to be fairly intact, missing a few bits like the side chute and short of one wheel. Height adjuster is frozen in place, but it looks like someone had been using this base as a trolley as it has a lump of angle iron bolted to the front which I will remove. I get the feeling the bolts have been tightened to such an extent that the adjuster is fixed in place. Might just need freeing up with some fish oil and loosening the bolts off. I had a look through my wheel collection and came across a broken Pope wheel which I might be able to repair. They were a very fat wheel compared to other mowers, perhaps influenced by the Victa Rotomo wide wheel trend, or vice versa. Only one of the wheels still had the white steel cap. Others are bare. I guess I could make up some wheel caps as they look pretty basic. Just a round disc.
The engine is much older of course, but fits it like a glove. Trick will be finding a blade disc that will fit. I do have a shaft extender here, so I guess I could extend the shaft a bit to cater for a more modern blade disc. The original disc must have been small diameter or had fairly short blades.
I am also now looking for a manual and parts diagrams for the 82-145, but can't seem to find any on here. Would anybody have a copy?
Restos like the ones in Speedy's photos look superb. As Mowerfreak says, they are then too good to use. I've faced that dilemma myself on a few occasions in the past. You do up a mower to the point that it looks showroom then you get people wanting to see you mowing your lawn with it. No way! After spending a huge amount of time and effort piecing these old machines back together, buying the right type of paint, cleaning down every part and painting, I can't bear the thought of getting paint knocked off or getting them dirty again. The wet grass sticks and then you end up with rust forming all over again. I feel hard done by even if a spot of fuel hits the paint and dissolves it. These days with increasing costs of everything, I mainly just restore mowers to working order. Then I can bring them out occasionally and use them for some mowing or showing off to people. The sad fact of the matter is that a fully restored mower that looks showroom generally sells for no more than an untouched one that is still running. I've seen people trying to sell fully restored showroom mowers for prices like $800 but they seldom get a single offer or bid. People prefer to buy working old ones and renovate them for themselves. It is more a matter of personal taste for collectors. There is a lot of fun and satisfaction to be gained in restoring an old machine to pristine condition.
