westwood lawnbug!!

[rotoscytheben 94]

ive been after one of these for a while now and it turned up today after a few minutes it was running briefly but the carb is knackered and i hate tecumseh engines so its going to get a honda lump very soon here are a couple of pics 

[meadowfield 1,900]

Nice, most of those end up as mower racers....

[Ian 2,417]

I should of guessed when you mentioned it in your text Ben      Very nice, it just needs a big v twin engine and a change of pulleys

[nigel 1,877]

this is how it should look ben

 

[pmackellow 2,738]

Nah, leave it original Ben !! 

[Wristpin 400]

Nice to see an original unmolested Lawnbug, can't be many left. Plenty of new Tecumseh carbs out there . It's strange the way that so many people rubbish the Tec engines when in many ways they were of a higher spec than the equivalent Briggs . They just needed a bit more understanding and TLC.
That Lawnbug looks to have the later blade engagement mechanism - top mounted engagement and locking lever, sliding spindle and single B section belt. I had one of the Mk 1 machines from new, - fixed blade spindle and twin A section belts, 7hp Tecumseh. Strange thing is I can't remember selling it; may have let it go with a house move.
Westwood's quality control of that era was decidedly iffy , the parts lists were littered with " use as necessary" when it came to washers and spacers etc! I once bought a pack of three Lawnbug cutter spindles and there was five sixteenths of an inch difference between the lengths of the longest and shortest!
You'll do what you like with it but it will be a shame to spoil its originality, once gone, it's gone and Hondas aren't the be all and end all of mower engines !

Edited October 3, 2014 by Wristpin

[Stormin 4,458]

Neat little thing. I can see why it's called a bug.

[Charlie Smith 192]

Very nice little machine, keep it original. If it was mine I wouldn't even paint it! And Im in full agreement here about the tecumseh engines,

Nice to see an original unmolested Lawnbug, can't be many left. Plenty of new Tecumseh carbs out there . It's strange the way that so many people rubbish the Tec engines when in many ways they were of a higher spec than the equivalent Briggs . They just needed a bit more understanding and TLC

I know many of people that wouldn't give tecumseh engines a lookin' I assume this is only through past experience, however I have three machines that have tecumsehs as there power unit, A tecumseh H60 a HH-100 and a V80 they have all needed work when I purchased them, but once you get them sorted, the run just like the others, (this is just my opinions)

[meadowfield 1,900]

I agree on the tecumsehs working well, never had any bother until a few months ago when the rod went on our little V70 ranger. But at 40 years old it had a good innings!

[nigel 1,877]

you must keep that origanal ben, buy the way angus will proberly know this but the lawnbug was made with 2 differant chassis a low side and a high sided one my question is which came first and what year was the change?

[rotoscytheben 94]

thanks for the feedback chaps good question nigel, perhaps angus knows the answer 

i will have to hunt for a tecumseh carburettor i reckon although, the honda engine is a nice motor to use

some people dont always like them but i personally do

a quandary me thinks i will mull it over this weekend  

you must keep that origanal ben, buy the way angus will proberly know this but the lawnbug was made with 2 differant chassis a low side and a high sided one my question is which came first and what year was the change?

i would guess the lower framed one would have been the first version since as angus said they changed some of the workings 

[meadowfield 1,900]

I've just sold two on that auction site Ben!

 

One was a NOS, only been on a few months. I

[Wristpin 400]

Just sent you a pm Ben, someone you may know has just bought a pile of new, surplus to requirements, Tecumseh stuff including a lot of carbs from a Sussex distributor who is having a clear out / change of direction.

I've never heard Bugs referred to by chassis type, just Mk1 and 2 but the alteration to the cutter engagement mechanism did involve a certain amount of re-design work. Unfortunately I gave away all my early Westwood parts lists and service bulletins when I retired so have nothing to refer to but I have dropped an email to a friend who worked for Westwood in the early days but I'm not sure that early!   

[Wristpin 400]

 

you must keep that origanal ben, buy the way angus will proberly know this but the lawnbug was made with 2 differant chassis a low side and a high sided one my question is which came first and what year was the change?

 

My Westwood contact says that Bug production had ceased well before his time with them; so no definitive answer from there. My guess is that any chassis change was as a result of the need to accommodate the revised blade engagement mechanism.

However he tells me that after he left Westwood and moved to Countax they (Countax) produced a specially commissioned batch of Bug chassis for the racing fraternity and that as patterns they had two different versions of the chassis.

 

[nigel 1,877]

My Westwood contact says that Bug production had ceased well before his time with them; so no definitive answer from there. My guess is that any chassis change was as a result of the need to accommodate the revised blade engagement mechanism.

However he tells me that after he left Westwood and moved to Countax they (Countax) produced a specially commissioned batch of Bug chassis for the racing fraternity and that as patterns they had two different versions of the chassis.

thats intresting angus, it would have been the british lawnmower racing assoc i will make some enquirys any idea when they were commissioned

[Wristpin 400]

 

thats intresting angus, it would have been the british lawnmower racing assoc i will make some enquirys any idea when they were commissioned

 

I will ask the question.

[Wristpin 400]

Looks like the repro Lawnbugs were built for Countax/Westwood's racing team with a couple supplied to the Tecumseh team and one possibly shipped to the States . The man responsible for them was Ray Kilminster, Countax's technical director ( and builder of some other interesting machinery such as a DAF saloon with an Oldsmobile V8!) at the same time he built up some racing Westwood W8s, with rack and pinion steering, solid back axles and disc brakes.

The W8s ran BS engines and the Bugs Tecumseh's which my informant remembers as being powerful and reliable. He also recalls that Ray built up a Bug for use by Sterling Moss to publicise the the sport in its early days.

I would emphasise that it is unlikely that there was much record keeping of these activities and that this information has been pieced together from the memories of those who were there at the time so are more of a snap shot of what was done than an official record.

[nigel 1,877]

thanks angus very informative

[rotoscytheben 94]

thanks angus as nigel said very informative im now on the trail of a new carb for the bug.

the tecumseh engine is staying for heritgage purposes  

Edited October 6, 2014 by rotoscytheben

[rotoscytheben 94]

having been over to a fellow lawnmower repair man the other day in search of a new carb for the tecumseh engine  unfortunately to no avail but i did manage to find a nos float for the carb and a good seeing to in the untrasonic tank hopefully will have sorted it i will fit it over the weekend and see fingers crossed  

[rotoscytheben 94]

got the carb fitted back on today it soon became clear that all the governor linkage and springs etc were in the wrong place 

they are all fitted in there correct place now i just need a new governor spring and that should sort that out then i will see if the ultrasonic cleaning has worked with the carb

oh and i need to sort the rear tyres out they are done for 

here is another couple of  pics of it anyway

 

[nigel 1,877]

i might have some tyres for that ben

[Ian 2,417]

Your soon have it up and running Ben

The seat looks so low it makes the steering look like ape hangers

[rotoscytheben 94]

i might have some tyres for that ben

that sounds good i need a few other bits for it too the centre plate that covers the gearstick etc and the rear deflector that covers the gearbox its like a sump plate if you know of any of those bits please let me know 

[steve d 43]

I think it's great your putting it back to original Ben, so many have been butchered by the heathens, I remember my dad looked after one just up the road from our house and it was one of the first I ever rode on

So good on yer for going for it,will look forward to seeing one of these fast disappearing original machines.