OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Reel-Type Mowers Scott Bonnar 45 Restoration and Decals

Hi all,

I'm about to start my first Scott Bonnar project and I've been chasing the decals for the catcher, handle bar plate and engine. I've bought some of the ones on ebay but I'm a little disappointed with the quality (they're great value but I'd gladly pay more if they were better). I've just received the early winged type decals but the old faded ones on the machine appear to be gold against the red and black - the reproductions are more of a yellow colour. Can anyone confirm the original colour? Is there another source for them?

Thanks, Michael

Hi rolla16v, as far as I know, the SB decals that are sold on eBay, are the only ones available at this time. Until these were produced, we used to have to mask around the originals when repainting.
From what I am led to believe, reproducing gold and silver on vinyl decals is very hard to do....so substitute colours are used...beige for gold and grey for silver etc.

For your records, the original colour was gold.
If you have any luck finding some decals closer to the originals, please let us know here.

Thanks very much for your response Deejay. If it's definitely gold I can have them made. I've used a local sign writer in the past to reproduce some rocker cover decals on a car that had chrome and brushed alloy finishes and he got them spot on. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't another source before I had them specially made.

Here's the chrome one I had made from an automotive vinyl. (looks a little blue but that's just the reflection)

Hi again Rolla, here is a pic of the original winged decal on my Model 17 Supercut grassbox....as you can see the gold runs around the entire edge of the decal as well as the centre 'saw blade' image...

Hoping this helps mate,

That's great Deejay, thanks again I'll take your picture and the reproduction with me to give the sign writer something to go by.

No probs Rolla, please let us know how you get on.

I thought I'd get a picture of my machines and show everyone what I have to work with. The two rovers are my daily drivers. The other three I would like to practice restoring. All are good runners except for the kirby which had been left to sit outside in the weather for some years. I have reasonably good catchers for all and another machine for parts. So far I've spent $390 to get all of these, although one of the rovers was given to me by my father.

Cheers, Michael

Nice Collection!

Wow Rolla, That's quite the Collection!

Kori

Thanks guys, I think/hope they're a good base to start with

Hi again Rolla, that is a great collection of Rover/Scott Bonnars mate, and to have another machine for parts is a fabulous bonus.
The second Rover from the left appears to have the 8 blade cylinder reel and should do a great job on your lawn.
If so, that would make it a 20" cut. Good score there!

Thanks Deejay, the second from the left is my main mower that I've had for a few years. It's a 17" cut and was initially a 6 blade like the others but I've since upgraded it to a 10 blade. I actually pulled the reel out today to go off for sharpening I use it on my back lawn - which I take a little more care on so it's nice for the kids to play on. I have a large step and some stones between the front and rear yards so I keep one in the garage out the front and the other round the back so I don't have to drag the mower across them.

Ultimately I'd like to sell the 6 blade rover and change to a 14" scotty as my front yard is only small.

Cheers, Michael

Thanks Michael for your reply, and obviously my observation was way off the mark....but in my defence, I can't see all the blades...Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
A 10 bladed 17" will give you hours of mowing pleasure...
By the way....a 17" Scotty is absolutely fine on a small lawn....mine is the living proof!
Best Wishes,

In regards to stickers there is a guy on the central coast in new who specialises in making Oem repro stickers, he has full Scott Bonnar sets, even rover thoroughbred sets. It's quality stuff I've used him for my restos

Hi Reelgrinder, and a warm welcome to OutdoorKing. It's great to have you aboard.
Thanks for the heads up on these stickers, I will PM you for details.
Once again to the forum.

Thanks for your reply Reelgrinder, I'd like to know some details also...

I'm considering painting in a slightly different colour to factory and once I lose that originality, I may as well just paint the emblems on. I'd love to see and know more about their decals though!

Also on the subject of decals, I ordered a set of the Briggs decals from a seller in the US and I must say I'm quite happy with their quality. Big difference when put side by side with the cheaper ones.

Well I came across a little 14" for sale and I couldn't help myself

I absolutely love this little machine, so happy with it! For an early solid deck model it's been well looked after. The little 2hp briggs appears to be original and is dated July '69. The catcher is rust free and reasonably straight. It's obviously had a tank and carby change at some point and the original decal on the cowling has been replaced (can still see the outline of the original though). This one will definitely get a thorough restoration to original condition once I've had a practice on my 17's.

Cheers, Michael

Hi Michael and on a good score there. That would be one of the tidiest 14" Scotties in original condition that I have seen (apart from the tank and carby), but that can be remedied....it's a little ripper!!

Thanks Darryl!

I've made up my mind on which machine to start on and today I've begun to strip it. This is how it looked before hand..







Looking forward to getting into it


I rescued this Victa 18 Special in a terrible state a little while ago... So I painted it (the wrong colours, I know) but I'm not sure what to do with it now . I don't want to spend any money sourcing parts for it...

Hi Michael, you could always turn the base into a great clock for the man-cave!
It looks great, mate.

Thanks Darryl, I think I'll put it on the back burner for now and slowly get some bits for it.

My SB project is coming along nicely, but I'd appreciate some advice on preparing the engine for paint. When i purchased the mower I gave it a thorough service including carb clean and diaphragm and also a magnetron coil. It runs and idles nicely and I see no reason to pull the engine down.

I'm wondering if there are any methods to prep the engine for paint whilst fully assembled (and still achieve a quality result)? Or am I just going to be cutting corners and realistically need to pull the engine down? I've painted plenty of automotive components but I usually chuck them in the blast cabinet and then lay the paint on - not a suitable option in this scenario.

Cheers, Michael

Hi again Micheal, have a look at this post by Dunks03, he seemed to paint his Briggs whilst still complete....The Chevy orange looks a good match as well....here's the pics....Click HERE
Why not send him a PM and get some advice on his preparation method.

Hi, I'm new to the blog so sorry if Im posting incorrectly but you look like the expert im looking for. I recently picked up a Scott Bonnar 45 and whilst its not being retored to the level of some that Ive seen on this blog It's in good working order and pretty good condition. My problem is that it only runs at one speed. I can see that the throtle/governor springs are missing and I cant work out how or where they need to be fitted. Are you able to assist me with pics of the correct fittment please?
Thanks

Cheers Darryl, that's exactly what I'm looking for. I'll send a PM

The Green Bonnar - to the forum. You're probably best to post your question along with some pictures in the 'questions on engines section' as there's been many different engines fitted to Scott Bonnar 45s over the 40 or so years they were produced. The experts here will be able to guide you from there

Cheers, Michael

Thanks for the welcome and the advice Michael.
I'll try that and see how I get on.
Its the last thing I need to get my machine on the grass (once I understand it it sohould only take me 30 seconds) so keen to get it done ASAP.
Thanks again MJ

Hi The Green Bonnar, and a warm welcome to the forum. It's always nice to welcome another Scott Bonnar Model 45 owner on board.
Thanks also Michael for your good advice...that's exactly what we want...some pics please. If your engine is a Briggs and Stratton, can you please post the complete string of numbers that are stamped into the air-cowling of your engine. This will not only tell us the model, but we can tell you the date of manufacture of your engine.

GB, you can find the instructions for uploading pics using our forum inline-uploader....Click HERE
Just remember that the file extension has to be .jpg or .png and the files preferably under 2 Mb....There are free downloads for resizing pics.
Can you please start a new thread in the "Repairs and Maintenance >> Questions on Engines >> and whatever brand your engine is topic" The will keep this thread 'on topic' many thanks.

Once again The Green Bonnar, to OutdoorKing!

You shouldnt have too much trouble with painting the engine assembled, they were painted spark plug and all at the factory 100% complete, ovbiously you wouldnt want to get any paint on the govenor linkages or anything that needs to move and doing the air filter seperately is probably a good idea too.

Thanks very much for your reply Joe

My main concern was getting everything clean and prepped in some of the hard to reach spots like between the fins and in grooves etc. I was also worried about the original paint flaking a little in parts that I couldn't sand.

I've cleaned everywhere as best as I can with a die grinder and a little abrasive pad and so far so good - it's in primer now. I think for my next one I'll strip the engine so that I can clean and prep everything thoroughly.

Hi Michael, sorry about your thread going off topic, and thanks for your help with the Green Bonnars prob....I have also asked him to start a new thread.
Joe is quite correct in his advice, I just remembered, before I scrapped the old Briggs on my Model 45, I had removed the air cowling for cleaning and you could clearly see that it had been painted with the engine completely assembled....so it appears that was the original procedure at the manufacturing plant.

For sure Darryl, there's plenty of overspray evidence to support that. If i had a clean bare metal engine to work with like the factory it'd be fine but I have 30 years of dirt build up and flaky paint instead. I think to do a proper job that all of this should be removed prior to painting but with a fully assembled engine this isn't possible. Don't get me wrong, my primed engine is satisfactory but for my next resto I'd like to step things up a little

I'll post some progress pics soon for those interested...