OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Reel Lawn Mowers, Atco & Villiers etc. Qualcast Royal Blade Deluxe - Setzy

Hi everyone. Recently I put out a call on Facebook for an old reel mower that needed love and attention and a good home. I have a brand new slasher (makita) which is great but not on my new lawn. I got a message from a mate and managed to get one from a tip. I've been madly researching since getting it on Saturday and yesterday stripped it pretty well down to its basics. I have a few issues to solve as I restore this to its former beauty.

1/ I need to get another carby for the Jap engine, its an AMAL 360/36, the inside thread is stripped out where the needle jet/filter is housed and its leaks fuel as it wont tighten.

2/ The drive shaft has a cone collar? on it that is cast and unfortunately a piece has come away and been lost.

3/ The drum has a hole in it.

The other little bits and pieces I can manage but my questions are:

a) anyone know where I can get a carby from or how to repair mine?
b) can I weld cast iron?
c) is it fairly easy to weld up the drum?

I've got a pretty good idea but I wanted to ask those who have been tinkering around with these things for a while.

By the way everyone, I love your restorations - I hope you're using these beauties to mow grass with haha.

Thanks

Setzy

Hi Setzy, welcome to Outdoorking.

Please post the type identification of the JAP engine, so all this will make sense in the archives.

Stripped threads in old carburetors are a recurrent problem, and the first issue is whether there is enough meat around the old thread to allow you to fit a helicoil and repair the thread that way. Even if there is enough meat for a fine thread, you then need a helicoil for what is probably a BA or maybe BSF thread, and that won't be easy to get. If you use a modern thread, you will have to make a new mating part, and there will be some loss of originality. So, it is usually more practical to replace the carburetor unless it is a really rare type.

It seems fairly unlikely you can get a part for your cone clutch, but there are a couple of British sites that have some surprising things. When Deejay's internet connection (in Wagga Wagga) starts working again he may be able to advise you on that. Meanwhile I suggest you post pictures of the surviving parts so we can have some idea how much trouble you are in.

It is possible to weld most cast iron, at least grey cast iron, by using special rods in a stick welder. If you post a picture of the damaged roller, and a way to understand the scale, we may be able to assess whether it is more practical to weld up the hole, or alternatively it may be necessary to weld in a patch.

Hi Grumpy, thanks for all that info. (I didn't think of a helicoil, mind you there's not much left in there).

The JAP engine number is 80/0 101157/71. It also has 'B' and 20302F stamped on the front.

Stamped onto the ID plate is DR15755C.

I have attached pics of the engine, carby, cone clutch and roller. I cleaned up the roller with acid last night and temporarily primed it. You can see it is fairly pitted along its length where it has been sitting on the ground. The rest of the roller is in very good condition.

Cheers

setzy, do you have the needle for that carburetor? I see the slide and screw-on top but can't see if the needle is there.

That drum has rusted away to nothing, it hasn't been broken. It may be possible to have an iron foundry use it as a pattern and cast another drum from it - I think it is pretty well beyond repair as a usable drum. Alternatively you might find another drum the same outside diameter and weld part of one drum to part of the other.

The clutch looks like cast iron in the picture. It seems to need the same cure as the drum - take it to a foundry and get them to use it for a pattern - but in the case of the clutch there is an alternative of machining a new one out of a solid bar of the same diameter.

That mower is way beyond economic repair based on its collector value. It is certainly repairable - vintage and veteran car enthusiasts do much more difficult repairs - but the item they are trying to restore is very much more valuable. I think you would need to budget in the $1,000 plus range to get it back into collectable shape, based on the bits of it I can see.

Hi Grumpy

Yeah I have the needle for the carby - the carby doesn't seem too bad actually apart from the leaks

I think I'll have to cut out a large section of the drum ?? I have a welder mate who has agreed to help.

I could always use one of the lathes here at work to machine a new clutch but I'll probably farm it out. I have some pretty clever contacts who might ?? do it relatively cheap (beer always buys good help).

As far as economic repair, its an affliction of mine - I'm not in it for the $ - I love to restore old stuff and once broke a rib whilst dumpster diving (ah-ha). I'm the guy who will spend just as much on parts and way too much of my own time in labour to fix something I could throw away and buy new, but where's the fun in that? I just hope my wife doesn't read this

Cheers Mate

If you don't care how much work it takes, but don't have access to an iron foundry, you could cut out the thin area of the drum all the way across it longitudinally, weld in a chunk of cast iron, then turn and bore it until it's drum shaped. You'd probably need to do some more welding at that point. Getting some other drum the same diameter and cutting off the cylindrical section then welding it to the closed end of the old drum would be a lot easier. With the clutch you could weld in a block of cast iron then turn it to the right shape, but it might be easier to just turn up a new one out of bar.

I suggest you measure up the carburetor and think about three alternatives: get a replacement carburetor; tap the stripped one out a size and turn up a replacement part to screw into it; or helicoil it.

Hi Setzy, and a warm welcome to OutdoorKing. It's great to have you onboard.
I am sorry that I have not posted earlier, I have been having internet issues....probably caused by the flood emergency, here in Wagga.

You have started a great project here and I see that grumpy is giving you good advice on the restoration.

If you require original parts for the Qualcast, you could send Keith Wootton an email; keith.wootton@oldlawnmowerclub.co.uk
and he maybe able to point you in the right direction as he is the president of the OLC. The club also supplies new transfers (decals) for many models including Qualcast.
Once again Setzy,

Hi Setzy, here's some pics of mine.




I've got a few parts hiding in a box too, and another engine I sort of restored, see pics below, the colour is all wrong.





Also, the roller drive drum on these are made from pressed steel sheet, so getting it repaired should be rather easy.

I put a reply where you replied to my Qualcast Captain too, going by my books, your engine is a Model 80, Type 71.

Good ol' British engineering, I love it!

Thanks for that Mal. If the drum is just pressed steel the welding is a lot easier and the repair technique much better established. I think I'd grind it back around the hole until it had a semblance of the original thickness, patch the inside of the drum by welding in a simple piece of curved steel sheet, then shape a patch for the outside and weld around the periphery. No machining or difficult stuff involved. That explains why it was both so rusted and so thin - cast iron is a much more durable substance than that. I was visualising it having been left submerged in a tropical swamp since about 1960.

That leaves the clutch as the main challenge. I don't really like the idea of a steel replacement. It has to run on a steel shaft, so it would have to have a thin bronze bush where it supports the end of the spring, which is not all that similar to the original design, and being steel it would be easily recognised as a replacement visually, too. Welding on a cast iron blob and machining it to shape might give the best appearance. However I haven't figured out what that big transverse slot in the clutch hub is for: if it is going to have to cope with really vigorous application of a lever, steel would be a much better material than cast iron. The fact that it's already been broken once supports that argument.

Thanks everyone, I am amazed and very grateful for your support, enthusiasm and advice. I'll follow through with those contacts when I get a chance, however look what I went and done yesterday (see photos below). Haha, I remembered we had an old push mower lying around here somewhere and I haven't seen anyone use it in years - 'bout time it gets restored I suppose - took it home on the motorbike bit of a spray with CRC and 5 minutes of tinkering and I was out on the front lawn mowing away (wow). Have already stripped most of it down and cleaned up some parts and galv primed them - I am looking forward to going home this arvo to continue.

Once again thanks everyone

Cheers

Cool. You'll have to work on the Royal Blade while you're using that, that way when you get sick of the manual work, you can upgrade to a model with an engine! hahahaha

What a little ripper....a good score there, mate!
Are you going to do a full resto on it?

Hahha Greg

Yes Deejay, still trying to find out what it is so I can get the colours right.

well it's been a while guys, and a load of work has been done, the push mower is just about finished although I think I put the wheels on wrong way round (ha ha) it mows in reverse (see photos), the royal blade is totally stripped and just about ready for reassembly (see photos) & I've got people in the UK chasing up a new carby & cone clutch. Got a little excited the other day when I came across a morrison on gumtree and paid $60 for it knowing that I had a spare 3.5hp B&S in the shed. I brought it home, swapped the motors over - everything lined up beautifully and bugger, the carby is playing up, it only runs with the choke or overevs in 'run'. Back to that drawing board. Anyway enjoy the pics. P.S everything I touched on the old push mower seemed to have been originally painted gold, so that's why she is gold - a bit too much I reckon - needs something to break it up. Have fun

hey Greg,
How did you get the block and the head so clean on the engine? Is it sand blasted?
cheers

Hi setzy, glad to see the Royal Blade coming along nicely, you certainly have your work cut out
for you, mate...it will look a treat when it's all back together!

Re the RFK....I agree all gold is a bit much...perhaps a mid or deep brunswick green reel would break it up a little....after all...green and gold are the Aussie colours, aren't they!
Well done and mate.

Hi Nathan, I just used some very fine wire brushes to clean it up. I was lucky in that the engine wasn't in bad condition too.

Hi Setzy
I also live in perth and have a royal blade. I recently got it running and she goes well.I will be pulling it down soon and take it to the powder coaters. If you are chasing parts let me know and i can point you in the direction of someone who has a lot of new off the shelf parts and recon parts as well.

Cheers
Scott....

A History Record is now available for the Royal Blade 14": -

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...14-inch-royal-blade-c1958.html#Post88190


As this is an old topic I have now locked it.
This topic may be unlocked at any time by contacting a moderator.

-----------------------------
Jack