OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Reel-Type Mowers SB Solid deck 14" restoration.

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to share progress of a 14" I am restoring. All components have hot dipped, bead blasted and/or sonic cleaned. Wanted to retain as many of the original fasteners as possible so all nuts, bolts and washers have been nickel electroplated. Will post more pics as I get time to work on it.

Hi Scott,

Why would you Nickel Plate all the fasteners ? That's highly unusual.

Cheers,
BB.

Well, I wanted to retain as many of the original fasteners as possible at the same time preventing them from rusting or corroding. I looked at zinc coating but the finish is too dull for my liking. Nickel plating can give a good look without any additional steps, is a tough coating and looks similar to the original fastener appearance when new.

Hi Scott,

Well it's certainly looking stunning so far.

All the original fasteners were zinc plated and bright dipped which is a process straight after the zinc bath.

Nickel has a bit of a habit of going really yellow and eventually allowing rust penetration. Zinc has far better anti-corrosive properties. Nickel is also rather brittle.

Nickel is always used in the chrome plating process as being the surface brightner under the flash of chrome that's put over the top.

Anyway I was just wondering why you have the reel installed ? is this just for the photos and then removing it again to drop it of at the machine shop to be sharpened along with the bed knife ? as I hope that's you process.

Cheers,
BB.

PS. I will say that as of late we are now seeing some really good restorations being done here at the ODK. Yours is no exception, it's superb.

Thanks BB.

Reel is just sitting there. Off to get sharpened soon (I hope).

Some progress pics.

Hello,

After some advice. Is the engine paint I've chosen too silver?

Appreciate any feedback anyone can offer. If I have the colour all wrong I would rather know now and fix it before finishing off the engine and fitting decals.

Hi Scott,

Is that Chrome paint you've used ?

Cheers,
BB.

Hi BB,

Surprisingly no it isn't. British Paints metallic silver is the colour.

Hi Scott,

I'll have to be brutally honest that it really looks like chrome paint from this end. I will say though that I don't mind it at all, but it's definitely not the original colour as the Briggs & Stratton colour was more of a greyish / silver metallic.

It's your call though as it's your mower and your work. If you were intending for it to be a concourse faithful restoration then there are quite a few deviations you have already transgressed with, so then what difference does it really make if you changed the shade of the engine paint to actually be far more striking than it originally was. (as it was quite dull originally)

If you leave it as it is I feel it'll be one of the nicest and most striking 14 inch Scotty's we've seen on here and believe me we've seen quite a few 14 inch machines over the years.

Cheers,
BB.

Hello Scott and Mod BB

Most certainly, one of the great Model 45 restorations.
There are enough Model 45s to afford liberty in the end product.
I feel the photos will also help and inspire others.

I found this image particularly interesting.
Just look at the detail!



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

Thank You BB and CyberJack for your input and supportive words. Agree with you BB, I actually rechecked the paint colour after I started spraying to make sure I hadn't been handed someone else's order. From both of your inputs, I think I'll leave the engine finish as it is.

I am glad the mower has/is achieving a high standard as it will probably be offered for sale soon after being finished.

BB, with reference to the originality of the mower, would you mind highlighting the things you have noticed as transgressions. Just for my own benefit really so I can consider them for future works.


Again, thank you both for your feedback.

Hi Scott,

Remember that these are only small things that could be remedied,

Brass finish on height adjuster (should be green) but I like it as is.
Fasteners are Nickel plated (should be bright dipped zinc)
Thrust pad is brass finish (should be green) again I like it.
Pinch Weld on chain case (simply remove it)

As far as the overall colour is concerned are you saying it should be a tad darker ?

and,

I have to ask the question, why is it up for sale ?

Cheers,
BB.

Hi BB,

That's good feedback and I am glad that all the things you have mentioned were conscious decisions.

As far as the mower going to be available for sale, the reality is I can only keep so many things but I love bringing old equipment back to life. I hold three trade qualifications however in my middle management role I simply don't get the opportunity to apply my skills, which I do love doing. Restoring things like this mower gives me the opportunity to get hands on and "scratch the itch" so to speak.

Hi Scott,

Hey all you need is a good lawn and you can keep it, thus get the effort out of it.

Well some one in Sydney is going to get a great mower with NO effort exerted.

I keep forgetting to ask, what are you going to do for a catcher as the one you have there is totally maggoted.

Cheers,
BB.

You may laugh but it is undergoing repair now. Will test out the tig and beating skills. Little rusty so will see what happens. I'll post pics of the repaired catcher soon.

I'm looking forward to seeing it, sadly you're in Sydney as you could make some serious coin as I've got about 5 that require the same treatment.

Cheers,
BB.

One new catcher end panel semi-finished. One to go then the body.

Wow !!

How did you get those pressings into the sides ? Honestly if you had a way of fast tracking these I'm sure you could sell quite a few on here alone yet on the open market.

Cheers,
BB.

If he hand-formed them [as seems likely], the man surely has some serious sheetmetal skills. Very impressive!

Hand forming and the help of a cold stretcher and a beading tool.

Completed project (less catcher, a mate who is helping me out still had some work to do). Already gone to a new home. What's next? 20", 17" or another 14".

Hi Scott,

Wow ! what a fantastic result !!!

Always prefer the brass parts to be exposed opposed to being painted, great highlight indeed.

Can I ask what exact paint did you use on the engine ?

also did you deliberately deviate away from the "45" decal on the chain case as I noticed you used the catcher decal on the chaincase.

Also I do prefer the reel painted in red as you've done (I always do them in red myself)opposed to orange as they were done originally.

Once again congratulations on a great result and in the short time frame that you've done this in you could set up a SB production line reconditioning plant !





Cheers,
BB.

PS. You've certainly served your Apprenticeship and now that you're qualified you can progress straight to a 20 inch Model 45.

Hi BB,

The decal was an oversight when purchasing the off eBay, but I decided it looked fine and went with it.

The engine paint is the same British paints silver we were talking about earlier in this thread, it looked like chrome paint. I found that applying acrylic clear over the silver (after decals were applied) knocked the impact of the paint back a few steps and I think it looks a lot better.

Hi Scott,

Well that explains it for me as I thought the paint on the engine was far closer to what it should be than how it appeared in that early shot.

One thing many users find that they fall in to is the trap of using non engine based paints where it is exposed to fuel and extreme heat which quickly breaks the paint down, especially around the fuel tank area where it gets easily broken down by spilt petrol.

Cheers,
BB.