I've had a very busy few weeks with work, so not much progress to report. Still waiting on the frame to be welded.
The damaged reel and front roller shaft threads were repaired while the reel and bottom blade were sharpened.
Will hopefully be able to finish the paint job this week and start assembly in about a fortnight 👍🏻
Those smaller parts that came up really well in the tumbler are now starting to rust (especially in this rainy weather). What is the best thing for me to do to protect these? I was thinking of running them through the Cleaner & tumbler again and then shooting some clear coat over the top (white knight rust guard). Can you see any issues with this?
Simply spray WD40 etc. over all bare steel parts and when ready use some Wax and Grease Remover (Prepsol) prior to painting to remove the said temporary protection.
Apart from that all I can say is we have come to expect this type of perfect workmanship from you and it again is clearly evident here.
Cheers, BB.
PS. a quick edit, I noticed that you painted the Reel bearing carriers. Personally I wouldn't have done. I know the earlier ones were but it was later deleted and left as straight cast Aluminum finish.
Last edited by Bonnar_Bloke; 22/10/1707:47 AM.
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'm taking my time rebuilding this one as I want the paint to cure properly before I start putting things together.
As for the bearing carriers, I thought the same thing BB! They weren't painted on the last rebuild, but they definitely were on this one so I figured I'd just repaint them on the outside. I actually had some trouble getting the original paint off these.
I also went over to help Dad set his reel on his mower that I restored for him yesterday afternoon. He was complaining about the cut on one side of the mower. I must say, I prefer the polished look on the bearing carriers. I did have a bit of a laugh because when I went to start dropping the reel down, I noticed he'd totally lost one of the pivot bolts out of the bearing carrier. I have absolutely no idea how he managed to do that or when it happened. Luckily, there's no damage to his reel or the chain/chain case.
Wow !!! Now that's one of those lucky situations that he didn't run over it and you know the rest !
I guess I've always preferred the unpainted finish to most of the mechanical bits around the reel as this way it looks busier than too much green.
Yes SB started out painting them but by around 1976 they stopped doing that as it was another stage of the build they could eliminate, thus saving costs again as they were already drowning in the world of Rotaries such as Victa and Rover, plus many others.
Cheers, BB.
PS. Did I mention Victa in a Scott Bonnar post ?????
Last edited by Bonnar_Bloke; 22/10/1701:18 PM.
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.
My apologies for the inactivity. I promised I wouldn't leave this unfinished, so I renewed my subscription and I'm back! Not long after my last post I found out I was pregnant with our first child. So, the painting stopped and morning sickness took over. My daughter is now 10 weeks old, so it's time to get her to help me put a mower together!
I'll be getting all of the painted parts back out and re-doing some of them because of imperfections (especially the catcher). I received a gravity fed spray gun as a Christmas present, so will be giving that a go. Is it as simple as sanding out the runs until smooth and then applying another coat or do I have to sand the whole thing back?
Well that's fantastic news, glad to hear all is well for all 3 of you.
We all here at the ODK are really happy you've come back.
Now as far as sanding back hammertone is concerned you'll find that due to the uneven surface that it creates for itself you'll have to spend quite some time to get the surface absolutely flat otherwise the next coat of paint will only exaggerate what's underneath with the new coat making it look much worse. The good part is that you are basically using the original surface as a guide coat and you'll easily see that when the total surface is sanded back all over you'll be at a flat datum point, if not you'll clearly see un-sanded spots which will be the low spots in the paint and thus you'll know that you have t keep sanding until you see no more spots.
I'm sure this is not what you wanted to hear but was probably what you anticipated to hear.
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.
I left you hanging again. This has got to be some sort of a record for the longest running restoration? Haha! I’ve finally organised for the larger parts to be re-blasted and the smaller parts were okay, so they will stay as is.
I trust you’ve seen how many aftermarket parts have become available since we last spoke. I think the most impressive of all is the handle grips!
I will hopefully have some paint shots to share with you in the coming weeks. Motherhood has kept me busy! I’ve also organised for a prototype acetal end cap with bearing holder to be machined to fit the original diameter tubing for the front roller. None of the current aftermarket products match the original OD and I see that as an issue. Once tested, I’ll get a batch machined for my restoration projects and because I bought about 1m of acetal rod over a year ago.
Well this is a blast from the past isn't it ?? LOL !!!!! wasn't quite sure what happened to you.
Yes there are many more players in the Model 45 market than ever before. Some of them good and to be truthful some are just thieves.
Yes the release of remanufactured grips is a good thing, in actual fact I have a set of perfect set here that I was going to use to make moulds to have them reproduced in numbers but I found out that to have the smaller numbers made to order was going to be a fair huge end price to the customer to make it worth while for me doing it, thus it never happened.
Well someone has decided to take the plunge and see if it pays off, we'll see in the long run if it does by how long they are available for.
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.
I would have to agree with you there, BB. It’s great to see parts readily available, but not sure what to make of all the bartering and ridiculous sale prices. Just today I saw a Rover 45 for $1300. Has not been restored, but has a ‘newish’ Briggs. Who would’ve thought?
Thanks Jack, TC and Blended. Those are some really nice words - I’m chuffed!
I stumbled across the ‘Memoirs of M.C Bonnar’ (not mine - a member of a Facebook group posted it. I have never seen it in any of the Scott Bonnar history sections, so thought this may be of interest?
Being advertised at ridiculous prices doesn't mean for one moment that they are selling for those prices.
Sure they've certainly gone through the roof, but most sellers are now advertising high and buyers are cutting them in half. No one is buy a Rover at that stupid price point. That price point is reserved for the 20 inch machines and none of the smaller units.
I just gotta laugh when I see some model 40's or 33's being offered at around $800 plus. That's just plain blatant stupidity.
Cheers, BB.
PS. I think I'm correct in saying that Admin / Historian CJ has a copy of that book.
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.
What a great story this is. This is why the internet exists - fantastic.
It is so good to see people doing worthwhile things and other people giving their time to encourage, support and just plain help.
I very recently acquired a 14 inch model 45 and have some nerves about restoring it myself. So I googled, ended up at ODK, and in 24 hours have already learnt enough to make me think I can tackle it. After reading through here I even feel emboldened enough to start a thread to document it, share some of the fun and mostly ask for the help I know I am going to need.
Congrats Em on a great job (and I hope you still visit here from time to time so you the little bit of good you have done for people like me).
![[Linked Image]](https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/images/jack/icon_showcase.jpg){kind=icon}
