Can't resist a Ransomes!

I am sure that once you have waved your magic wand over it it will run like the proverbial Swiss watch - well maybe as well as any B&S engine does run!

Keep us posted.

Ray, as you have probably experienced, the Briggs coupled with Ransomes centrifugal clutch was not a happy combination, as to disengage the clutch the engine tick over had to be set below the point where it was happy to accelerate to re-engage  - tended to bog down or cough and stall!.

Before I started the chassis strip I cleaned up the points (machine definitely had been wet as the the points and condenser were immersed in white jelly!) and it fired up, idled slow enough to disengage the clutch and accelerated  smoothly which makes me wonder if it is fitted with extra strong clutch shoe springs - something that I've heard about but never managed to pin down a part number.

Anyway, the entire machine is now a pile of parts, cylinder and bottom blade in the rust tank, seized rear roller soaking in diesel, all the small parts stripped and primed. The machine had, at some time, been brush painted with what looks like household gloss so the chassis, handlebars, chain case cover and deflector plate will go to the blasters next week to be stripped and epoxy primed. May be the grass box as well - just depends what sort of a deal I can negotiate!

You are getting a lot of practice at freeing of seized rollers lately! The tools have had not had a chance to gather dust from your last project.

I think it is an aluminium thing re the jelly formation where moisture is present, I have noticed it before on old neglected machines.

Cutting cylinder and bottom blade de-rusted, cleaned up, painted and sharpened . Reassembled with new reaction springs, cleaned and re-packed bearings and new felt seals. The existing springs appeared to have been attacked with an angle grinder; don't know why as the new ones were far from coil bound with the ground cylinder and re-faced bottom blade . Maybe they had been cut down from what someone had around them!

Rear roller had spent the weekend in  diesel which had done its job and the roller didn't put up too much of a fight. The grooves on these two sections are good so no tedious re-cutting as on the last one.

Delivered the chassis, def plate, handlebars, chain case cover and grass box to the "blasters" for stripping and epoxy undercoating this morning. Unfortunately he is very busy with all sorts of interesting stuff so wont see them back till mid next week but there's always stripping and re -painting the engine to get on with!.  

Looks as though you are well on the way to giving the mower another lease of life, the ratchets inside the rear roller look to be in quite good condition considering the mowers age.

If by waiting a reasonable time for your blaster to fit your job in it keeps the cost reasonable then it will be worth the wait. As you say there are other things to be doing to progress the job along, including refilling the coffee pot.

First dry day for a week so the garden took precedence  today but the roller is reassembled and the exhaust, fuel tank and carb removed so that the block can have a good clean. Will reassemble with new gaskets.