Thanks for the comments and suggestions.
I gave the mower another run today and it performed very well after replacing the ignition coil off a wrecked engine.
I bought the mower up to operating temperature 3 or 4 times today and no faults were present at all. The mower performed well hot and cold both at idle and full speed. I let the mower idle for 5 or so minutes today and it didn�t miss a beat.
I am confident this machine is right to go now so thanks for the assistance.
I must say the mower is very easy to start both cold and hot with about half a pull of the starter rope.
The only thing I could fault about the mower is the base seems very thin and only tack welded underneath so I might be prone to cracking as it gets on in age. I�ll make sure it goes to someone with a small to medium lawn so it gets some good service.
Cheers
Jaffa
