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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

Suffolk Colt Re-Assembly - James May - TV Series

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Hi folks.

A mate has let me know due to my interest in old mowers that on the BBC i Player there is a programme showing James May of Top Gear fame putting together a Suffolk Colt. Just had a quick look and it looks very interesting. Some other old mowers make a brief appearance at the start, if you go onto BBC i Player and type in Suffolk Colt the item should appear. Regards. Rob

wristpin Tue, 01/10/2019

Watched all the original series - a nice bit of  “ slow television”.

Lee Smallwood Tue, 01/10/2019

For someone who knows very little about engines, I found it was quite rewarding to watch. I have it saved on my little tablet and have watched it a few times, Suffolk's rule!!!

RedLeader Wed, 06/11/2019

I managed to watch the episode 4 times over the past couple of weeks which has given me a bit of confidence tackling my first ever mower restoration - a Suffolk Super Colt! Sadly, it looks like that episode has expired and is no longer available on iplayer now.....

RansomesRob Wed, 06/11/2019

Hi Red Leader. There is a Suffolk Super Colt 4 Stroke Engine Operating and Maintenance Manual for sale on E Bay at the moment. Might be of help to you? Cheers. Rob

RedLeader Wed, 06/11/2019

Hi Rob - Great, thanks very much for the heads up, I'll check it out! I'm going to start a thread for my restoration, but still finding my way around the forum and the best place to start it. I've got so many questions already after just finishing the complete strip down including engine, and it looks like there is an entire wealth of knowledge on this forum so hopefully I can get a better understanding and all the pictures and info will help others who might want to give it a try :)

RansomesRob Wed, 06/11/2019

Hi Redleader. Just had another look at the Suffolk item on E Bay and there is a page showing Mower Assembly as a detailed diagram. From my own experience I have found that members in the Club are extremely knowledgeable and are happy to help answering questions posted on the site. Cheers, Rob

wristpin Wed, 06/11/2019

It was only when I watched it again recently that I realised that JM seemed unaware that there were valve timing marks on the crank and camshaft gears. Fortunately he knew enough to set the valve timing from basics !

RedLeader Fri, 08/11/2019

Thanks for the link to the manual Hortimech, that's really helpful - before I bought it on the bay! 

Chris G Fri, 08/11/2019

Thanks for posting that, very enjoyable.

Some real deja vu on the have to take it apart again for me :-)