WestwoodW8Gazelle

Hi all, I’m back! I have my Westwood all up and running with new pulleys and drive belt. I would like to say thank you to HeadExam and everyone who helped me to try and find the right pulleys for my old Gazelle. I have recently started her up and put the cutter deck on to cut some grass as well as a nice ride around the garden. I’m glad she’s back up and running better than ever as there is no more loud noise from the old belt and pulleys. I have also made a video as requested from MyOldMachine user, WestwoodGazelle of the Gazelle starting up and running as well as general information about the mower.
I have replaced the pulleys, drive belt, and the lights on the Gazelle after being out of action for a year, and currently changing the oil after a nice long run yesterday (video that has been posted below). Since I have owned the Gazelle I have replaced the air filter (Ernest Doe staff member laughed at the old air filter as it appeared to be an old sponge someone had cut to use, currently has proper Briggs air filter for correct engine), battery (had an old car battery fitted prior to purchasing and now currently correct battery stated in mower manual), replaced points and condenser (when first purchased had trouble starting engine and then after fifteen minutes of use engine would cut out, now starts fairly on the key with no cut out), added new seat (old seat was taped up and sticky/had perished, so painted metal seat to stop rust and put new seat on), repainted cutter deck/eradicated all rust (probably ruined the deck but have protected it from rust), numerous amounts of oil changes (first oil I bought the mower with was black and sludgy), and finally have purchased new pulleys and drive belt with new lights. So it should run ok, if not I don’t know what to do next haha. Hope you enjoy the videos (forgot to show video of lights working so have included another video) Much appreciated. Thanks for reading.
 
Pictures below showcase the work I had carried out a week ago as well as a video of the Gazelle running.
 

Got the Westwood collection out of the sheds this afternoon for a lineup photo or two...
 

Nice job 👍

I think that the Westwood Gazelle was around from 1976 or before as I have recently bought most of the mower paper work from eBay including some of the purchase papers from Westwood which states that the mower was a 1976 Gazelle. Will be posting more pics in summer of all the updates if anyone is interested.

That's a real shame, but I would be really interested to see a photo!
 
 
Welcome to the forum, MowMaster! I am glad you're liking the thread, and I agree Westwoods are great tractors. There are a few Westwood fans here with W11's. 
 
Also I thought you folks might want to see these photos that my brother took (he's an amateur photographer), I think they look great: 
 

Yes exactly. Cannot beat good old British engineering. Welcome to the forum! 👍

There's an old rusty Westwood kept outside under a bedraggled tarpaulin that starts on the button according to the gardener who works next door to my customer. I will try to take a photo of it in situ next time I am there. What amazes me is that there is plenty of undercover storage for it to be stored.... 
 

That's great. Thank-you for the help.

Here's the Westwood with the new seat I got for my birthday and a new headlight The seat is really nice, I also replaced the bar and clip that the seat pivots on to reveal the storage box (or boot? ) with two M8s because the bar was very loose and the seat wobbled on even a slight hill. It's very comfortable now  
 

Electric start. Sometimes the e start machines would have a recoil unit as well but on later higher horsepower machines the recoil was absent to allow for ducted cooling.

I seem to have some Westwood paperwork I thought you might like to see.

This is really interesting, thanks for posting. I wonder what the difference is between the W8E and 11E from the normally W8 and 11 models?

Hi all, I thought you may want to see some pages from my Westwood Brochure, I haven't seen this one posted online before, and it's from the late 70's or early 80's.
 
There's a lot more, I have uploaded it to my Flickr account here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/153749022@N02

Ok, thank-you. That would be a great help. I am also looking for two new pulleys, so when I find some I will give you the website link.

I am looking at a pair of lights on the 'bay (new), if I decide they fit and are good, I will let you know. Not sure how old the pulley is on my Gazelle, I think I may look to get it replaced at some point, and I need to look at a way to fix the brake too because it isn't working. I will also be getting a new seat for it for my birthday 

Thanks for the pictures of the chain steering, look very complex!  It is interesting to know the history behind Westwood mowers. I am also in need of two headlights, but I have no idea where to find a pair. Will be looking in Ernest Doe. Will be getting some pulleys for next season, can't wait! 

I have finally fixed the wiring issue that was causing the Gazelle's ignition switch to smoke, and I have tidied up the wiring loom, I still have some work to do but it is Ok for now, and I need a replacement front headlight 

Here is a picture for WestwoodW8Gazelle of the steering system that seems to be unique to the earliest Westwoods, here's what you see on the top of the chassis below the steering column:

And here is underneath, it is in need of a clean and grease: 

And here is the cover that goes over this gear and chain system, there's a couple of marks on it because unfortunately the nuts and bolts holding it on had rusted solid and rounded off, and I had no choice but to get the angle grinder out: 

 

Exactly, I noticed that the lights were wired up to the engine so that when the engine is running it not only charges the battery but also the lights run off the engine, not the battery! For a 70s machine that's pretty clever. Even I was surprised. Haha. I also came across an early Westwood, same model as yours on YouTube, but unfortunately has been adapted with bigger engine etc.
 

I will have to get you a picture of the chain and gear steering, it's pretty cool Haha! Owatrol is great because I hate the idea of things just slowly decaying, and whilst I like normal oil, it will always leave stuff a little sticky, so I find Owatrol perfect because it prevents rust but also dries. 

Exactly, I noticed that the lights were wired up to the engine so that when the engine is running it not only charges the battery but also the lights run off the engine, not the battery! For a 70s machine that's pretty clever. Even I was surprised. Haha. I also came across an early Westwood, same model as yours on YouTube, but unfortunately has been adapted with bigger engine etc.
 

Exactly, I noticed that the lights were wired up to the engine so that when the engine is running it not only charges the battery but also the lights run off the engine, not the battery! For a 70s machine that's pretty clever. Even I was surprised. Haha. I also came across an early Westwood, same model as yours on YouTube, but unfortunately has been adapted with bigger engine etc.
 

Thanks! Not feeling too confident to restore. Haha. But will definitely get the mower mechanically sound with new parts if needed. I always thought that the lights were the deluxe model? Maybe, who knows. Won't be until the next season until I get this girl running as well as my other W8 which still needs pulleys. Through winter I probably will be getting other gazelle ready for next summer mechanically. I try to look after the mower as its almost an interest. Haha. But my mate offered to cut the grass to see how the old Gazelle preformed cutting long grass, which was fine as its ok on the highest adjustment especially when its not a routine. So when I was in house watching I noticed he forgot to adjust the deck height, and the deck was on the lowest adjustment, and the poor engine was smoking and slowing down so I ran outside to stop him!! Last time anyone cuts with that mower. Haha. Not to worry tho as engine runs smoothly and is looked after. Couldn't believe it!

Nice, glad he gave you the mower With some TLC the Westwood could be very nice, if you need to weld the seatbox/bulkhead where it's rotted by the rear fenders, when we did my '84 Westwood it was fairly easy to repair, though unfortunately have no pics of that. I don't know if it is a basic model, or if lights were an optional extra, either ways I hope it goes well if you decide to restore. 

Hi guys, came across this Westwood last winter and thought I would post if you may be interested. The previous owner had this Westwood for many years and looked after it, that is until she was replaced by a newer and bigger mower, I had mixed feelings about whether I should go for it and I asked if I could have it. He wanted it gone or one day for scrap so he gave me the mower! I saw the mower parked up under a bush when gardening for clients and as I am interested I asked about the mower, the mower is a W8 1979. (Built one year after my 78W8) When brought it back home, noticed all the buttons and levers were and still are all seized!! The mower had stood outside for a good 20 years under the bush so no surprise. Previous owner used mower for rolling field and also using harrow. It's good to have a pull start mower as my other gazelle is only ignition start. There are some weird adaptions made to this mower i.e. the ignition switch, highly doubt this was factory, but I believe this model of Gazelle is the basic model as for some reason the headlights are bolted in with a metal sheet. Previous owner painted green, have no idea why. Next year I am planning to either try to get this old girl running alongside my W8 gazelle, or I may break up. Seems a shame to do so. Already used spare front tire for my diesel Westwood as seen in the first pic. Haha. Is this the beginning? Hopefully not. Still have to order pulleys and new lights for my 78W8 may be for Christmas, haha. Found pulleys but they are in America! So am trying to find a UK supplier. Will be posting video of my 78W8 running once I have pulleys and also the first start of this new 1979 W8! Also was able to print off Westwood Manuel so if anyone needs pictures from Manuel, I can post them. Thanks for reading.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi guys, came across this Westwood last winter and thought I would post if you may be interested. The previous owner had this Westwood for many years and looked after it, that is until she was replaced by a newer and bigger mower, I had mixed feelings about whether I should go for it and I asked if I could have it. He wanted it gone or one day for scrap so he gave me the mower! I saw the mower parked up under a bush when gardening for clients and as I am interested I asked about the mower, the mower is a W8 1979. (Built one year after my 78W8) When brought it back home, noticed all the buttons and levers were and still are all seized!! The mower had stood outside for a good 20 years under the bush so no surprise. Previous owner used mower for rolling field and also using harrow. It's good to have a pull start mower as my other gazelle is only ignition start. There are some weird adaptions made to this mower i.e. the ignition switch, highly doubt this was factory, but I believe this model of Gazelle is the basic model as for some reason the headlights are bolted in with a metal sheet. Previous owner painted green, have no idea why. Next year I am planning to either try to get this old girl running alongside my W8 gazelle, or I may break up. Seems a shame to do so. Already used spare front tire for my diesel Westwood as seen in the first pic. Haha. Is this the beginning? Hopefully not. Still have to order pulleys and new lights for my 78W8 may be for Christmas, haha. Found pulleys but they are in America! So am trying to find a UK supplier. Will be posting video of my 78W8 running once I have pulleys and also the first start of this new 1979 W8! Also was able to print off Westwood Manuel so if anyone needs pictures from Manuel, I can post them. Thanks for reading.