S1g

Fantastic job Norm, it looks great.
 
I have a Haban sickle bar mower and they are a very handy tool. I used mine in the vertical position once to trim the side of a hedge and it frightened the life out of me.
 
Iain

Stripped it down this morning and got it all painted.
 

 
   Put it all back together tonight and a problem rear it's head. The cutter was sticking. So off came the bar and I removed the blade. Soon saw the problem. Paint had got onto the slide. A clean off with emery clothe and back together I could pull the blade back and forth easily.
  Back on the machine and it ran fine. I gave it some oil and left it running for 15 minutes. Couldn't resist the temptation and tried some paper through it. Cut it without problem.
  Maybe get to try it on some grass tomorrow.

This morning I sorted out the belt tensioner. I cut the end off the tensioner where the bearing had fitted. Turned a sleeve to fit the I.D. of the insert that goes in the pulley bearing. Then put it all together.
  I refitted the tensioner to tractor, same way as before and gave it a try. Now the flat of the belt was running in the V of the pulley. Not really an Ideal thing, plus the belt flapped a bit. So a bit of thinking and trying different positions, here is what I ended up with.
 

 
   Seems to work fine and as soon as I can I'll give it a trial.

Ewan, if it's anything like your Cub Cadet resto, this will be another WH salavaged from the scrap heap. 
 
Look forward to reading more more about the project in due course.

First i started to strip the tractor down, there were many modifications which needed to be rectified. There were some splined hubs which had been made to fit, they were first to go and they revealed the state of the axles, very rusty and holes drilled in them.
 

 
Next I cut off the front axle which has been welded on.
 

 

 

 
Next we welded the chassis back how its meant to be and welded up the extra holes.
 

 

 

 
the hood stand required some straightening, some ingenuity was needed.
 

 

 

I've finally got around to creating a thread for the restoration of my RJ I have been working on.
 
Many thanks to Chris for sourcing the engine, we're working on getting it going, also thanks to Ian for helping me out with the measurements of the front axle and lastly thanks to Chris (showman) for letting me take measurements from his RJ at Newby hall!
 
Heres some photos of the RJ before I started
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More messing around with this project today..... Had some 6mm plywood lying around, thought i'd make a 'battery box' to go with the exhibit....... Only had to buy the hinges, catch and 15x18mm timber..... Even the battery is a 'freebie'
 
 

Well done Darren.

Thanks Chris!
New bits arrived at 10.30 this morning....... The list of 'to do's' was....
1.Hone bore.
2.Scrape ring grooves.
3.Fit new rings.
4.Refit piston.
5.Refit oil dipper/conrod end cap.
6.Make new sump gasket.
7.Refit sump.
8.Refit cylinder head.
9.Refit air shroud and tank.
10.Bolt engine back onto trolley.
11.Add oil and fuel.
12.Refit belt and tension.
13.Start..........
All done by 12 noon! 😁
Am very pleased to say it started 1st pull and NO more smoke from the breather!
Here's a short video and a piccie of an old ring(silver ring)against a new(black)....

You may have noticed in the videos that the Villiers is smoking from the breather......? I was suspicious of the condition of the piston rings? The restoration was purely a cursory check of the bore and that the rings weren't broken. Everything else seemed fine, no excessive play elseshere........ Well, initial checks to see if i'd overfilled the oil or put the wrong stuff in proved I hadn't, so yesterday I decided to investigate things a bit further...... I pulled the shroud and cylinder head off and found oil on the piston crown and inside cylinder head. The plug was also black and oily! Rings it is then..... After stripping the sump and removing the oil dipper/end cap, I removed the piston to get to the rings. Once the rings were removed I compared them with some +20 I have spare? I'm pretty sure +40 rings should be bigger than +20s??? These weren't...... Either someone has put standard rings on the +40 piston or these rings are worn excessively? I checked one in the bore too and it was so loose, it doesn't even close the gap!!! New rings ordered, should be here today!

Cured the belt whip with a salvaged tensioner from a Daewoo Matiz! (I don't own one, just asked my mechanic friend if he had any old ones) I looked at several from different cars, most were way too big. But this one proved perfect once I had made a bracket to mount it on...... Also tidied up the wiring and fitted the 'no charge' light in the panel.

Bars fitted........

Me too Norm!

Looking forward to the light display.

A quick 'trial fit' this evening....... I think they'll do??? (Ignore my sons choice of attire...... was just before I took him to football)
Ordered these few bits, ammeter, switch and charge/warning lamp, all for under a tenner! Will be mounted in the flat panel.........

Welded the handlebars together this morning, then primed and painted them. The paint dried totally in about 30 minutes in the sunshine, so I fitted the grips!

Yep!

Like your tattoo, but not sure about your choice of footwear and trousers.
The wife has her uses sometimes! Even if it was just add a little weight to stop the bounce!!! Lol😂😂😂😂

Like your tattoo, but not sure about your choice of footwear and trousers.

Was a little concerned about hot exhaust gases being directed onto the plastic of the voltage regulator..... So the simple fix was to drill 2 new holes in the exhaust flange and rotate it by about 20°........ 
My next task was to 'tinker' with the wiring part of this project....... I am pleased to say that it all works! I will probably change to a larger pulley on the engine to improve alternator speed slightly..... but it charges my car battery very well at 14.20 volts on a little more than tickover!😁😁😁
 
Whilst running the overall trolley is heavier engine end, leading it to bounce a little alternator end. A solution could be to add some weight? The idea I had was to make some handlebars from 3/4 steel tubing...... with a central support brace and a plate to mount a 'charge' light and switch...... Here is the bars cut, bent and ready for welding tomorrow.

Liked this car so much that I purchased another one. This time an 1989 car with only 56k on the clock and 18 dealer stamps in the book. Here they are side by side.
 

Liked this car so much that I purchased another one. This time an 1989 car with only 56k on the clock and 18 dealer stamps in the book. Here they are side by side.
 

Are you brave enough to say that to micheala?

Now have something for it to drive! A Lucas A127 alternator, 70amp version. Made the brackets and adjuster today and fitted it all on to the trolley. Next job will be to paint the brackets and reassemble for the final time. I will then sort the wiring, get a leisure battery and some LED lights!

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread but I noticed the high volume of views and that I failed to add a pic of the finished Mower  sorry!.
Here is one I meant to add just after it was finished (along with other Reprobate Refurbs)-
 

 
It  looks like I'll be able to pull it's covers off and give it a run soon, so I'll try a Vid a working session.
And just to add more detail to the recorded history of this Mower's life, my friend Roly (son of original owner) recently sent me some pics he found of him using the Mower when he was about 9yrs back in the early sixties-
      
 
 Regards.