Hi Solman, thanks, but it's really just a temporary solution - I used white knight chrome spray paint. In hindsight, I probably should have just clear coated over it after sanding. I've already scuffed it up a bit on reassembly and I imagine the wear will be terrible once the mower is actually used. I was wanting to get a new stainless steel front roller with bearings as a few of the members here have used on their rebuilds, but I can't seem to locate one either. Apparently they used to be sold on eBay, but there's nothing there now.
BB - I made a mistake - the self aligning bearing situation is sorted. I was sent the right one - blonde moment. Also, out of the 4 SB45's I have, only 2 of them actually had that rubber seal near the housing. Isn't that odd? Anyways, I 'borrowed' one from another mower and have used it.
I tried to replace the rear roller bearings today and they do not fit into the housing (for real this time). I took them to a local bearing place and they confirmed that the old bearing diameter was 37.1 and new was 37.3. They didn't have anything that they could give me, so I'll try another place tomorrow, but I may have to reassemble the rear roller with the old bearings, which is not ideal seeing as though I have now replaced every other bearing along the way. I will, however, dismantle one of the 'spare' mowers and see if the housing is different by any chance.
Will hopefully be able to share some progress photos tomorrow as everything will be ready to go!
