[bs23uo]

I finally got all the pieces located and put back in the right place (I think anyway). I had a bunch of leftover parts, but then I did replace most of the worn nuts and bolts. I got this mower from a guy who told me that his Dad had "restored" it a few years earlier. When I told him that it was the wrong colors, he just said that those were the colors his Dad liked. I cleaned and stripped everything and started all over. After all the body parts were done, I thought I would strip the engine and repaint that. I figured that it should run if it was just "restored". Not a good assumption!!!! When I took the flywheel shroud off, there was no flywheel, points cover, or points and condenser. I have no extra parts for the '38 WMI engines, so for the time being, this will be a static display. I very seldom mow with any of my restored mowers anyway. I would like to find a better pair of tires, but at least these are not broken.

 

[Austen]

WOW!!!!

That is amazing Larey, unbelievable!! Everything from the beautifully restored wood handle with the Eclipse name stamped into it to the blue stripes is stunning! It is something else.

You should put that in your house on display! Haha.

Very very nice job, you should be proud. Looks better than new!

Have you seen these tires before on Ebay?

John Deere Scotts Gas Reel Turf Lawn Mower Wheel Tire | eBay

Thanks for sharing it!

 

[Mark / Ohio]

Excellent work!! :cool

 

[bwdbrn1]

That does look great Larey. Eclipse had some really unique looking machines back in the day, didn't they. Kind of a bummer about the engine. Is the decal on the engine new? Who did it for you?

 

[wh55]

nice restore..i'll keep my eyes and ears open to see if i can find any parts for you

 

[bs23uo]

bwdbrn1,
A guy gave me another fly wheel, but it has a crack in the crank keyway and 4 of the fins are broken off. The more I think about it, I might just leave it as it is. Zero maintenance that way.

The engine decals came from the guy in Oregon state. A bit on the high side,but good quality. I tried a little experiment last week, and I'm not 100% satisfied with the results. I sent the Series plate out to the graghics place and he did not get a perfect match. He said he could not match the original print and the computer matched it as close as possible. Also, the computer would not make the ECLIPSE lettering in a bright silver, so it came out more white. Like I said, not 100%, but not real bad. The Oregon guy has one listed but his scan is so blurred, I didn't want to take a chance. You can look at the pix and see what you think.

 

[Austen]

It looks very nice to me!

 

[bwdbrn1]

I'd say the look pretty darn good. I know what you mean about the maintenance. I think that's why I'm starting to like the push ones more! Less maintenance, easier to move around, and easier to store.

 

[bs23uo]

Austen,
I have about 10 hours in refurbishing the wood handle. The branded ECLIPSE BUILT was just barely visable when I started cleaning the handle, so I had to be really careful when I started stripping. I don't have anyway to rebrand them, so I had to make a stylus and imprint each letter before I could even start sanding. After sanding, they had to be redone because the top surface of the wood was really soft so a lot of the lettering was removed. After the second imprint, I used a dark brown hard lead artists pencil to color the letters to look like the original branding. I could only work on it for a couple hours at at time, short attention span, and it made my hand sore. Then there was 2 days more for the sealer and poly topcoat. I'd sure hate to have to do that for a living!!!

 

[Austen]

Austen,
I have about 10 hours in refurbishing the wood handle. The branded ECLIPSE BUILT was just barely visable when I started cleaning the handle, so I had to be really careful when I started stripping. I don't have anyway to rebrand them, so I had to make a stylus and imprint each letter before I could even start sanding. After sanding, they had to be redone because the top surface of the wood was really soft so a lot of the lettering was removed. After the second imprint, I used a dark brown hard lead artists pencil to color the letters to look like the original branding. I could only work on it for a couple hours at at time, short attention span, and it made my hand sore. Then there was 2 days more for the sealer and poly topcoat. I'd sure hate to have to do that for a living!!!

Your hardwork really paid off, it certainly shows it! It looks amazing.

I agree, I think I would have a hard time as well with all those hours of sanding knowing how careful it needed to be done at the sametime. I bet you're glad it's all done so that you can finally enjoy the finished product!

Also, if you don't mind me asking, where did you send your ID plate out to get remade in metal? I have the reproduction one that you see on Ebay which is just like the original, but made out of paper (basically a decal) and not metal like it was originally I think and still needs the series number 1403 stamped in it.

 

[bs23uo]

I found some aluminum plate at the home store, and cut the plates myself. Your decal looks realy nice, just like the original ones.

 

[LilysDad]

What a great job!!!

On the front of the engine block is a cylinder with corrugation. What does that do? Does it need a cap?

 

[Wayne195]

Awesome work, bs23uo! The Eclipse looks absolutely beautiful!

 

[bs23uo]

LilysDad,
The tulip shaped cylinder on the front of the block is the crankcase breather. And yes, it should have a cover on it. As I stated in the first entry, hopefully I remembered where all the parts were at and where they went to. Well that part has grown at least one leg and crawled away. It was there when I brought it back from the home farm and when it as taken apart. But when I got ready to strip and clean stuff, it was AWOL!!! Other models that use a breather have a larger diameter and will not fit. I will try to find one, but if I can't, I will make something work on it.

Thanks for all the accolades on the completion of my Rocket.

 

[bwdbrn1]

So you have those little parts stealing gremlins in your shop too Wish I could catch those guys and make them bring back everything they've stolen from me.

Again, looks great. You and Austen are making me feel like a real slacker!

 

[bs23uo]

Those gremlins can be a real pain in the a--. We had a censor cutting out on the combine last fall and the cover for it walked away as we were cleaning the sencor out. It took 3 of us over an hour to find it. And it was laying right where we took it off. The whole machine will not run without the censor and the cover in place.

I haven't been a real fireball myself this winter. I finished the 38 Rocket, but the 59 Ranger is still in pieces and I just don't feel the desire to work real hard on it. I got a line on a "bunch" of push mowers, but the guy has yet to fish them out of an old barn. I seem to have heard that line before!!!

 

[bs23uo]

LilysDad,
While moving the junk, err, the spare parts, I found a plastic cap in one of the bins. After a bit of measuring, I came to the conclusion that with some minor mods, I could make it work on the breather cup. It had some really course threads that needed to be removed before it would fit the breather. I started with an ExActo knife but could just see an amputation waiting to happen. I switched to the die grinder with a straight bit and made short work of it and no blood was shed.

 

[bwdbrn1]

Good 'ol Yankee ingenuity at work there. And you still have all ten digits! You need some more mowers to go with that one.

 

[Ikes-Mower]

Great job!

 

[axregman2002]

Hello bs23uo:

I enjoyed looking at the pictures and reading your comments on refurbishing your 1938 Eclipse Rocket Mower. I'm currently refurbishing the 1939 Eclipse Rocket Mower that my father bought just before WW 2. I had the mower stored in my basement at two different homes over the last 42 years. I'm happy to saw that everything on the mower is complete with the exception of hub caps. I noticed that the wooden handle on yours is straight while mine is tapered both inside and outside. The Briggs & Stratton WI engine has the spark plug on top of the head. After I disassembled the mower and degreased it I found the wheels were painted a light yellow and the deck was a gun metal grey. That might have been the start of two-tone paint. I can only hope that when I'm finished, that it looks half as good as yours.