First I wanted to say thank you to those responsible for the OutdoorKing project, I'm new where but I already appreciate the all the hard work of the contributors.
Now, I have been lucky enough to inherit a 14" Scott Bonnar Model 45 from my late grandfather. My father gave it two me after my daily driver kicked the bucket. At first I didn't fully understand what I had inherited but, after some reading into the history of Scott Bonnar here (thanks to CyberJack) I have learnt that I have a piece of Australian history! I have decided that I will do all that I can to keep this history going and I have come here for help. I have two main goals in mind for this project; firstly, I wan't to get this machine in a serviceable condition so I can get some experience with the machine and understand it. Secondly, I wan't to do a full restoration to ensure that I can hand this machine down to my grandchildren.
Fortunately, my Scotty is still running, but not without issues. So in the short term I want to give the machine a full service and understand exactly what I'm dealing with. I have some experience with mechanical repairs and maintenance but, I would consider myself a newbie which is why I have come here for help. I have attached some photos, can someone take a look and give me some advice on where to start and possibly outline some steps to get this machine running well? If it isn't clean in the images the ID plate reads: 45 01563 and the Engine ID reads: 61202 0144 01 6805, i think...
I have already made a start by cleaning the fuel tank and carburettor when I discovered that the fuel pick up mesh has become gummed up and has a hole, is this a replaceable part?
That's as far as I have gone, I wanted to get some advice before continuing blind.
A warm welcome from myself also to the ODK forums.
What you have is one of the first issued Model 45's, if that's the original engine. It shows that the engine was produced in May of 1968 which was the year that the 45 was introduced. I'd say that the mower itself was build around August / September of that year. I does though show signs of repainting at some stage as it's no longer showing it's initial "Alpine Green" colouring.
Now as far as get it going reliably one must start with the engine itself which it seems you've already made a start on. These particular 60102 engines run a very simple carby and all one must do is thoroughly clean out all internals of gummed up old fuel. Throttle body cleaner is a good solvent to use via a long tube nozzle fitted to the to of the aerosol can. Also the tank will require a good clean out. The gasket between between the the tank and carby must be in good shape and if in doubt "throw it out" and replace it so as to avoid air being sucked through the joint. Also the thick gasket between the manifold and head assembly must be serviceable and not allow and air leaks to be encountered. After that it is merely about compression and spark. As you've had it running has eliminated the spark issue as that's been demonstrated to be there, so that only leaves compression. Sadly this is the department that has had time and wear and tear take it's toll of this requirement. Normally these small engines can be rather easily revived but many have taken the option of replacing the power plant with a far more smoother new style Briggs engine, something that I'm doing currently to a similar powered 14 inch Scotty for a friend.
Generally these old 60102 Briggs & Stratton power plants only require a new set of rings and a light honing of the Aluminium bore by hand to give these old girls a second chance at life along with a valve grind and resurfacing of the valve seats to gain full compression again.
I guess that's enough for now.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Speaking to my dad who �spent many hours behind that machine� the engine is original. My grandfather loved a good tin of paint so I�m not surprised that it�s not the original colour (but I�m surprised that it�s not his favourite tone of dark brown). I�ll clean and take photos of the inside chain cover to see if that still has original paint.
I have had the plug out and the sprak looks great so I�ll continue with the carby and fuel tank for now. The gaskets and the fuel pump diaphragm look like they need replacing so I�ll just go with a full carby kit and get it back in tip top shape, hopefully by this weekend. I�ll update here when I get some more progress.
Meanwhile, I�m going to search through my grandads manuals to see if I can find the original Scotty manual. Fingers crossed!
My grandfather loved a good tin of paint so I�m not surprised that it�s not the original colour (but I�m surprised that it�s not his favourite tone of dark brown)
G'day Aerrow and Mod BB Yes, what is it with grandfathers and dark brown? Is it a genetic remnant of the Great Depression ... who knows?
The original paint is within the chain cover.
Aerrow, could you confirm the Mower serial number on the plate? That may prove important for provenance.
I hope you find a manual. Look for the dark brown folder marked 'Aerrow'
Both Mod BB and myself love these early 14" Model 45s. This one is very much worth saving - because of the family connection and its early manufacture.
Yes Jack is correct in saying that I have a soft spot for the 14 inch Solid Deck Model 45 as it was the first one I bought and still have it to this day. It was the machine that I cut my teeth on way back in 1985 and as such it holds many fond memories. Sadly lost all its original sales documentation and sales brochures in the divorce back in 1998 that was left in the book case along with much other Automotive literature. ........................Bugger !
Mine is an early 1969 machine but sadly had it;'s original engine block screwed up by a smart-alec so-called Mechanic / Engine Reconditioner that decided to hone it out with a honing tool which just instantly tore the bore to bits and explicitly after I told him not to do this. He thought he was doing me a favour. All I wanted to do was change it's rings and give it a light hand honing with wet and dry paper. Sadly some of these know it alls just don't know it all.
I have since replaced the block myself and used the original Air Cowl that retains the date along with the carby and fuel tank, coil and flywheel from the original engine to keep it period correct, this way only I will ever know what has really happened to it.
Looking at your engine I notice that the engine decal is no longer there. These engines came out in three different power variants, that being the 2 HP, 2.25 HP and a 2.5 HP rating. Most of them were 2 HP units with the 2.25 being the rarest of the three.
It was basically what ever the Bonnar's could get at the cheapest price from Briggs in the States as they didn't buy enough to warrant a special run of engines to be made or specification demand orientation purchases. they just bought whatever they could lay their hands on the cheapest and then sometimes hade small modifications to the mower so as to handle whatever power plant they had on hand.
This was clearly evident when they obtained Kirby H4-4A's to use on the Series II Twin Rail 14 inch machine where they had to ad-hock modify the lower handle bar assembly so it would clear the rear facing Air Cleaner assembly. This was the first time that SB used the same brand of power plant across the full range of 14 through to 20 inch Model 45's until they swapped over to using the Briggs & Stratton's across the full range as that's when the dog legged lower handle bar was introduced to the 17 and 20 inch machines to clear the larger one quart fuel tanks that they sourced from Briggs.....................................and again probably at a fairly cheap price.
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
Mod BB, it saddens me to read about your miss-fortune...
Is there a simple way that I can determine the HP of my engine? And, is it significant in any way as far as restoration goes (parts etc.)?
Also, I'm picking up an intake manifold gasket, fuel tank gasket and a new pump diaphragm tomorrow but I'm still not sure how I'm going to tackle my gummed up and ruptured fuel pick-up tube (see pics). This part is proving difficult to source and I'm not even sure that removing the pressed in copper tube is a good idea. I had a thought to remove the end cap that is housing the mesh filter and replacing it with a plastic one. Thoughts?
I note that Briggs 'Kool Bore' engines can be honed to de-glaze them. In fact, that is recommended, but factory procedures must be followed. It's one thing to de-glaze, another to resize.
A final note on the carby mounting set screws. I recommend a locking compound be used here with a new gasket.
Many thanks Aerrow for the update. I'm sure you will help other members down the grass track.
My reference to not hone the bore came directly from the Briggs & Stratton Workshop Manual which clearly states Ally bores are NOT to be honed / deglazed.
This is how it appears: page 2 section 9, Pistons - Rings - Rods
Note: Do not deglaze cylinder walls when installing rings in aluminium cylinder engines..
Cheers, Manfred
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
I will note your advice for when I dismantle the block. For now the carby and fuel tank are clean and I have installed some new gaskets. Things are running quite smoothly now except for one issue... I managed to break the throttle linkage and now I�m having issues with speed control. I have remade the linkage for now with some rigid throttle cable but it is far from ideal (pics to come). I�m looking at a new linkage and spring now to get things working properly.
Other than that I�m quite happy with the way the engine is running and I�m looking at the next steps. I want to avoid working on the head and block for now, what should my next steps be?
I guess one must ask the question, what is your budget for this job ? are we doing a full restoration or just a refurbishment to have it all running mechanically sound ?
Cheers, BB.
I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.
At this point I�m aiming for a refurb to get it mechanically sound and to improve my understanding of my Scotty. I�m also aiming to keep costs low.
I�ll be lookin at a full restoration in the next few years where I�ll spend some money.
I�m glad to hear that the reel is looking good.
