New Project - Rover thoroughbred rebuild

My wife picked up an old Rover Thoroughbred reel mower for $70 off a buy and sell site. The good news was that it was in pretty reasonable nick, The bad news was that the old 1975 3.5HP Briggs and Stratton side valve motor was dead (Although the owner reckoned it worked). I spent $30 on the motor, with a hone and new piston rings and some new gaskets and cleaned out the rust in the tank. All of this was to no avail as the bloody thing still wouldn't start. The mower was too good to throw away so I decided to get rid of the old B and S and replace it with a new OHV model (which funnily enough looks like a Honda knock off).

I had a mower shop sharpen and set the reel and bed knife yesterday. I got carried away yesterday and re-assembled the mower along with it's brand new Briggs and Stratton 3.5HP OHV motor. I lubed the chains with CRC Lithium grease and fired it up. It is like a brand new mower, all up cost to buy and rebuild is a touch under $500 so I am super happy with the result. My wife loves it so much she helped mow the lawn, which she couldn't do with my 26" Alroh

Now the photos

You'll be able to start your own lawn bowls club now  RD 

A friend of my son's started rebuilding and selling them on when he was 13, he's funded 4 motorbikes, a car and plenty of other things since and he's only 21

I began reading the first line and thought your missus had just acquired a new dog.

I was a little disappointed when it turned out to be a bloody lawn mower.

BanditDave wrote:I began reading the first line and thought your missus had just acquired a new dog.

I was a little disappointed when it turned out to be a bloody lawn mower.

I dread to think what you were expecting in NTBil'ls post then 

You reckon I am a bit of a deviate, I reckon we need to keep an eye on you Paul

Nice work, Reddog. 
I love the way that appliances, tools, mowers etc that were built before "inbuilt obsolescence" was invented, work so well for so long. Granted, they may need a little overhaul, but generally do the job that they were designed to do. 
I own a fridge built in 1969. It still purs along beautifully. It may not be as efficient as a computer controlled 2015 model, but I will bet my lefty that the new fridge will not be going in 2061!

I bought a '57 Victa Toecutter for Chris, when she pointed one out saying how cute they were. 
New fuel, and away she went. She had a service label, tied to the handlebar, from it's last service in 1962 and cut grass like a demon.
I had thought of restoring it, basically a paint job and new wheels, but it hasn't happened so far. 
She still gets pulled out of the shed for a run here and there.

I've still got the 1988 Rover Suzuki 2 stroke  mower i bought new. Rover discontinued them, so i was told, because they never saw any back for repairs. 27 years later and the governor shaft broke. Parts are now getting hard to find so i made my own up using a piece of 5mm rod. While i was at it honed and re-ringed it. New piece of foam for air filter. Cleaned the carb and the tank. Still starts and runs like new. Hopefully for at least another 10 years

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madmax wrote:I've still got the 1988 Rover Suzuki 2 stroke  mower i bought new. Rover discontinued them, so i was told, because they never saw any back for repairs. 27 years later and the governor shaft broke. Parts are now getting hard to find so i made my own up using a piece of 5mm rod. While i was at it honed and re-ringed it. New piece of foam for air filter. Cleaned the carb and the tank. Still starts and runs like new. Hopefully for at least another 10 years

Those Rover Suzuki's will run rings around any Victa. The Suzuki 110cc engine has forced induction. The poor old Victa 160 didn't even get a whole crankshaft! Not to mention the plastic car by etc!

Love the old Rover RD. Although, I'm a little suprised that you didn't give it a 5.5hp motor, (Tim the Toolman upgrade )

Kiwisteve wrote:

madmax wrote:I've still got the 1988 Rover Suzuki 2 stroke  mower i bought new. Rover discontinued them, so i was told, because they never saw any back for repairs. 27 years later and the governor shaft broke. Parts are now getting hard to find so i made my own up using a piece of 5mm rod. While i was at it honed and re-ringed it. New piece of foam for air filter. Cleaned the carb and the tank. Still starts and runs like new. Hopefully for at least another 10 years

Those Rover Suzuki's will run rings around any Victa. The Suzuki 110cc engine has forced induction. The poor old Victa 160 didn't even get a whole crankshaft! Not to mention the plastic car by etc!

Love the old Rover RD. Although, I'm a little suprised that you didn't give it a 5.5hp motor, (Tim the Toolman upgrade )

The plastic carb was the main reason why I chose not to buy a Victa back in 1988 didn't know about the half crank. Pity Rover discontinued the Suzuki motor its been a bloody great mower.

Here you go Reddog

Wow that is a Tim the top man upgrade. Uh uh uh more power!

The binford 2000 lawnmower

BTW I didn't go a bigger motor as I knew the ohv motor would be much more powerful than the old side valve motor. To be honest you only need around quarter throttle or the bloody thing has you running behind it

reddog wrote:Wow that is a Tim the top man upgrade. Uh uh uh more power!

The binford 2000 lawnmower

BTW I didn't go a bigger motor as I knew the ohv motor would be much more powerful than the old side valve motor. To be honest you only need around quarter throttle or the bloody thing has you running behind it

Shouldn't really make any difference in the speed the mower is moving, as the motors are governed to 3600rpm. You may need to look at the gearing for the final drive to slow it down a bit.
A Chev 350 might be the shot for the next upgrade