Hi Llew,
Well you've managed to get the best of the best of the Model 45.
Firstly it's a 20 inch machine, which are pretty hard to come by and secondly it's as Mod CJ has suggested an early Series 1 unit which makes it the strongest of all the 20 inch model 45's made, also it has the superb 3 piece rear roller, which was later deleted as a cost cutting exercise.
One really strange thing about this machine is that some previous tenant has changed the front roller from a 20 inch unit down to a 17 inch version, not that smart to be truthful. This may be an easy rectification by removing the roller and disassembling the three pieces and replacing the tubular section for the correct length and then re-riveting the end caps back onto the new tube.
Your machine certainly looks like it's lived in a rather damp location for a while with rust being evident in quite a few concealed locations, but don't let that discourage you as this is all superficial.
Your sprockets are still quite serviceable at this point so there's no need to spend big money in that area at the moment.
I guess I have to ask what your intentions are for the future of this machine, restore it as per original or refurbish it to a reliable and useable machine to use in your contracting business. From there I can advise you much better.
Yes the Kirby is due for hoiking and replacing it with either a new 3.5 HP Briggs & Stratton sloper unit or even better a Honda power plant.
If you are going to dispose of the old dilapidated Kirby engine I'd be happy to accept it for placement into the bone yard that I have which helps out many Adelaide ODK members when they get into strife and require spare bits as Kirby motors have no parts availability apart from new carby's from China. As I can see your engine has already been quite ravished of many components, eg. Fuel tank, recoil starter etc.
Anyway let me know how you want to proceed with this mower and I'll only be too happy to help out. Also being that we are both in Adelaide I'd be able to make a home visit if you get into strife as I've done for many others.
Cheers,
BB.
