Ransomes Marquis identification help

It's a Ransomes Marquis with a BSA / Villiers  "Sloper" engine.

It could be a perfectly genuine machine but the ID plate that should be on the right hand chassis side plate below the recoil starter has been removed - may be during a repainting - so the exact model series is difficult to match to the features as presented.

The pattern of starter and the individual front roller adjusters suggest an early model.

A few points to check . How well does it fill the grass box, does it throw the grass well forward into the back of the box? No? may just be a matter of adjusting the throw plate or possibly that the cutting cylinder has been reduced in diameter by repeated regrinding and is no longer capable of throwing the grass forward. How much adjustment is left between the cylinder and bottom blade, how compressed are the springs , and how much lip is left on the bottom blade.

What is the condition of the grass box itself?   Easier to fix mechanical issues than to reconstruct a tatty rusted through box.

Rear roller. Are both halves free to rotate individually in one direction and lock in the other.? Are the cast in grooves reasonably deep across the full width of each roller or are they worn away for a couple of inches at the outer end of each roller section?

It may be a perfectly genuine machine but there are plenty out there.

Some excellent points I can check, in particular the cylinder wear and grass throw. 

It does have a much newer grass box that was apparently an expensive item when purchased.

Thanks for the feedback.

Chris

You are right about the grass box , they were / are very  expensive!