A few years on. A year or so ago Mr 10 year old put it away for winter, leaving it with a full tank of fuel and the fuel tap on. By Summer the tank was empty and the carb was full of gum. Several go-arounds led to :
- A new carb
- Home made gaskets (quality gasket paper)
- A new clutch half (the old one had no set screws left and was flogged out)
- A new clutch thrust bearing (the old one was grabbing even after a flush and re-grease)
So we're back on the grass. My idea of "raked" and his were different, so after what looks like a couple of stones and at least one nail the blades "need some work" and one of the cylinder bearings is screaming like a banshee. Those bearings were replaced last sharpen. This time I'll replace them with units from my local bearing house rather than whatever the local grinder uses.
The Diplomat is still sitting out the back with a full set of brand new bearings, but I've offered it to a guy for parts. Not that many of them around with functioning drive gears these days and it's just taking up space.
