So changed the seal again. It's better but still leaking. The problem is a small gouge in the crank. Nothing will solve that other than a new crank..which I found on eBay in the US. So a winter project to swap that out. In the meantime, I'll restore the deck.

So here she is ready for sale after a good 30min test in my own garden. The hardest part was to replace the oil pan as the previous idiot had decided to use Loctite which broke the bolts. 

So Mick suggested I do a post on how I change tyres on Honda mowers. I've done a fair few HR194,214, HR21 and now this HRH. The HRH tyres from Honda are north of GBP50 but Skana and GHS do some good aftermarket alternatives for about GBP10-15.

So here's my approach:

1) Get the tyres in to some very hot water - give them 5 to 10mins
2) Meanwhile, get some grease on the top of half of the wheel.
3) Look carefully to see which way the tyre goes on (there were notches in the back of HRH wheels)
4) Remove tyre from water drain any water and dry off with a cloth.
5) get the tyre on the ground and get the bottom seated in on both sides
6) get this in a vice (the vice holding the bottom seat. Use a big flat screw driver and work the tyre over the top of the wheel. Go easy - it should not require huge force.
7) make sure all of the beads are seated correctly and remount.

Check out the video by Doublewidesix on youtube (though he goes a bit nuts with the screw driver).

So a bit of progress made. Wheels resprayed, new tyres and new bearings. Deck and under deck resprayed.

Mick, I will strip it down....and bad news, I ran her for a bit and she's leaking again. I think there is an issue with the shaft......got a couple of new seals coming. That there was 2 in there to start with means there was likely an issue.

So an update...dry as a bone under the mower so fingers crossed the problem is solved. The deck needs some love but that's a job for winter. I've changed the throttle, clutch and drive cables and the drive belt. New wheel bearings required.

Quote from: Mick on October 30, 2020, 08:22:51 AMLooks like it's been worked well Tim, though it's not really beat up like some.  You fitting tyres on all four wheels?  What's wrong with the old ones are they split or something?

A tutorial on how to replace those tyres would be interesting. 

Parts order gone in including new front wheel adjusters (bent, cracked), rear chute guard (hole), rear rubber guard, new tyres, logos, cables, grass bag and BBC bits. I even find replacing the faded hydrostatic levers helps get top dollar.

So Friday 30 Oct: Next sage is remove handle, remove and clean transmission, wheels and front bar. All went well until I wanted to remove the rear wheel bearings which were stuck on the shaft. A lot of penetrating fluid, propane heat and hammering a punch in the shaft while pulling the wheel (thanks Mick for the advice) and they were off. Beer O'clock.

Saturday 31 Oct: Tried to remove the transmission but the shaft rollers that turn the wheels were stuck fast. Hammering them with a punch did nothing. Again, a lot of cursing, hammering with a punch, penetrating oil and heat and finally it came out.

Sunday 1 November - started process of painting wheels and front bumper. Primed underside of the deck.
All that was left was to thoroughly clean the mower deck and get rid of flaky pain.I used degreaser and a Karcher. Sanded down then washed down. Given the bare metal I used a primer. The old tyres were removed from the wheels and they were cleaned prior to painting.

Sundat   

Hi Mick, will do. The main thing is to get the tyres in to very hot water, grease the wheel get the bottom of the tyre over the wheel, put it in the vice and use a big screwdriver to gently manipulate the tyre on to the wheel.

Evening all. I bought a 2006 HRH536 for about GBP63 to restore and sell on. I'll document progress on here. She looked in a terrible state but I took a chance and a clean of the carb and she fired up straight away with no smoke. She was running at almost 4,000rpm so a new throttle governor spring and back in the right hole and she's back at the right 3,000rpm level (Manual says 2,800 but the GXV likes a little more).

So I started by giving the mower a good run picking up leaves. She was perfect but she tracks wrong as the previous owners/users obviously rammed it in to something and bent anc cracked the front wheel adjusters. After making sure the drive worked well, I cleaned the mower then took off the fan cover, recoil and exhaust cover and resprayed them. 400grit sand paper, a good degrease, primer and then a close paint match to Honda R280 power red. So far so good.

Then the BBC was removed. All in good order but the driven disk and spring were beyond service limits. I was feeling buoyant but then I tried to remove the engine from the deck. Some numpty had used a tube of loctite. Two of them snapped. Bang goes GBP130 on a new sump (I don't have the time to try and extract). But the good news is the engine is off the mower.

A parts delivery arrived earlier today with new tyres. So tomorrow I'll remove the handle bar and other bits ready to power wash, degrease and prepare the deck for respray.....pictures to follow.

Mick, here are the photos. I cleaned up the oil cover and added some Honda bond. The new crank oil seal has gone in. It says to have a recess of 2mm but I put it in a little further. Will report on progress.

Hi all,

Right, an admission. I am obsessed with the HR21 and HR21-5. I won't bore you with details but it has lovely childhood memories. Having restored a HR21 I came across a sad HR21-5 on FB Marketplace and managed to secure it. The engine is fine and doesn't smoke. However, looking at the blade and oil pan, there was more oil knocking about than a Thai massage. There was a leak from the lower crank shaft and the trochoidal oil pump gasket and cover. I replaced the gasket with a new one but unfortunately that did jack all good. So first question....you reckon Hondabond will sort this problem? Let's see!

Next up the crankshaft oil seal. When I remove the old one I found another one rammed in upside down. Both were removed and a new OEM one installed. So firstly the trochoidal gasket leaked and so did the crank shaft oil seal. It was weeping oil ever so slightly on the crankshaft. A new seal has been fitted with a little HB added for good measure. Let's see if the leaks stop.

All in all a brilliant mower and testament to Honda's total dominance of the mower market in the mid-80s.