OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Question On Scott Bonnar Cylinder Mowers SB45 Restoration project

Yes grumpy...I'm always a bit doughy at this time of the morning as well!!
Mate, I think that a well documented thread will be invaluable as an archive....fractured rails seem to getting more prevalent on the late model Scotties...only a matter of time before the Rover 45's start doing the same.

Referring to an early post in this thread, it was said that the date of Steve's engine, in 1981, was after Rover bought Scott Bonnar. In the remainder of the thread it has been assumed that a 1981 engine could not have been fitted to a green Scott Bonnar mower. This implied that the cowl on Steve's original, orange engine cannot have been the original cowl. I have been reading the archives and it looks as if this was wrong. The issue is covered in this thread:

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showgallery&Number=14247


From this history it appears that Steve's engine probably still has its original cowl, and the mower was very likely made in 1982. If you want to Steve, you could inspect the cowl closely to verify that like the rest of your engine, it is orange underneath the black paint.

Gee, grumpy, I had forgotten my own post on the history; that was a guy in Brisbane (Rover) who put me onto the guy in Mildura. I have been looking for that info for ages.....that was posted way back in '09.....my memory is not as good as I thought it was!!
I shall add that info to the SB history in the super forum.
It just goes to show that there is a lot of info in the archives, if you just know where to look!

Grumpy, there are definately signs of orange on the engine cowl, you can see it in the photos I posted earlier. I guess this is proof that Scott Bonnar were still producing orange engines in 1981 as discussed in the post you pointed to. If this is the case then it is possible that this is the original engine for this mower.

With regards to the engine, I am not confident that it is in a servicable condition. I still haven't removed the engine but I was having a look at it last night and when I turn the crankshaft forwards there is a horrible noise coming from inside the engine. It sounds like loose metal parts! Also, I don't seem to be able to turn the crankshaft backwards. I will let you know more when I have the engine removed.

Steve

You can't tell what is happening until you separate the engine from the clutch, Steve. There seem to be problems in your clutch, and that could mask what is going on in the engine.