Keen observing BB; these bars are the earlier style without the noticeable bend found in the later model 45s. They will clear the engine without the plates, but the overall height of the handle grips is pretty low as a result. The gentleman I purchased the machine from was rather tall in stature which leads to my assumption of why the adaptor plates were added in the first place.
I also have another Model 45 20 inch like yours above, and have noticed an enforced bend in the lower half of the bars carried out by a previous owner. This was definitely purposed to clear a transplanted Briggs & Stratton motor (maybe 80's or 90's variant 3.5HP) in replacement of the original Kirby. I refer to it as 'enforced' as they didn't do a very clean job of it (bugger!). And to add to that, looks as if the bottom half suffered a break or fracture around the original tube welds (could be a result of the bending) and was re-welded very poorly. It seems a replacement set is quite a difficult spare to come by these days. So there are a few hurdles in restoring this machine - but I really want to get this one refreshed back to as close to original as possible, except using a modern B&S (which I've already added).
