[wristpin]

Yes, it is an early M1 with the sliding engine to engage and disengage the belts. Later ones had a fixed engine with a cable controlled jockey pulley to do that function.

[wristpin]

Read this
https://tractors.wikia.com/wiki/Perkins_Shibaura_Engines
And you will see that there have been more tie ups and joint ventures than you can shake a stick at. Your best chance is to do some personal research and make friends with a few good old fashioned parts department managers.
Have you actually spoken with Farm and Garden in Dublin?

EDIT. Should add that Perkins are owned by Caterpillar, so there’s another avenue.

[wristpin]

You will only get what someone is prepared to pay. Not very helpful , I know but you need two or more potential buyers to establish the going rate. Make up your mind what is the least you are prepared to take and enter it in an auction – live or on line – with a reserve.
There are Tarpen collectors on this and other sites: do a bit of research and maybe contact them direct.

[wristpin]

If you decide to follow the Shibaura trail the importers / distributors for Eire and the UK were, and still may be, Irish Farm and Garden Machinery of Hazelbrook, Malahide , Co Dublin.

[wristpin]

Sounds as though someone has saved you some fiddling around resetting the timing from scratch, cross fingers that the punch marks are in the right place. I concur with the the suggestion of having the coil checked out on a proper tester – even more so for the condenser: judging from the number that I replace after a dodgy test result it’s well worth doing. The problem may be finding someone with the right kit to do it – used to be essential in any small engine workshop but since the introduction of electronic systems it’s just chuck it and fit another!
I work on a lot of “unknown” small engines and nearly always start with a “top end” overhaul – aka a “valve job”, but there again I have the kit to do it. A lot of people spend ages fiddling with carburettion and ignition when the root cause of poof starting and running is out of adjustment and poorly seating valves.

[wristpin]

This single hex box spanner is available from L&S but CHECK the size as they only mention the larger engines

https://www.lsengineers.co.uk/villiers-heavy-duty-spanner-for-flywheel-centre-nut-mk10-mk12-mk15-em548.html

[wristpin]

I’ll mark up the flywheel and crank before undoing the nut

You may find that Villiers have done that job for you. At some point in production they used to set the timing using basics such as piston position and points opening and then rotated the crank to Top Dead Centre and stamped an arrow on the flywheel rim to coincide with another reference mark on the flywheel housing back plate. If you are fortunate enough to have one of those engines, all you have to do is to clean and set the points to the correct gap (12 – 15 thou),turn the crank so that the piston is at TDC (probably best to remove the head to do this rather than at an angle through the plug hole), and fit the flywheel so that the arrow aligns with the mark.
The slight danger in making your own markings is that unless you are 100% sure that the “as is” timing and points gap are correct, you are just perpetuating a possible inaccuracy.
At the end of the day, if you have to re-time the engine by relating the piston position to the point at which the points start to open, it is not rocket science and one of us will talk you through it.
I totally endorse Trusty220’s advice not to use a open ended spanner on the flywheel nut and that a stout single hex socket or box spanner is the way to go, but if all else fails an old cranked Whitworth ring spanner is unlikely to harm the nut – but it must be the correct size of Whitworth spanner and not the nearest AF or metric! The correct “flogging/slogging” spanner is still available from Villiers Services for around £20 delivered.
villiersservices.co.uk

[wristpin]

That’s as it should be, the nut is captive to exert a force on the flywheel to pull it off the taper on the crank. Villiers provided a special spanner designed to be struck with a hammer both to remove and, equally important, to tighten it sufficiently to maintain the flywheels position on the crank to preserve the timing – there’s no key to position it.

[wristpin]

Would it not be possible to get a keyway cut into the flywheel, using the witness mark of the sheared key to position it, and then use a loose key to align the two keyways? Assuming that the flywheel is a taper fit to the crank , it is the taper that does the work of keeping the flywheel in position, the key just provides the initial alignment.
There is, of course, the question of what caused the integral key to shear; the options being lack of torque on the flywheel retaining nut or an ignition fault causing a kickback, both options overcoming the grip of taper.
I’m guessing that your question about what actually triggers the spark on that electronic ignition system is one for the designers of the particular system to answer. Taking the Briggs and Stratton Magnetron system as an example , it has a visible additional trigger “pole” just before the coil pole pieces.

[wristpin]

I think that your engine would have been produced in the leaded fuel era but unless you are going to work it hard and hot it is unlikely to come to any harm. If you are concerned there are various lead substitutes available from Halfords etc .
As well as its anti knock properties the added lead provided some protection against valve and valve seat recession – particularly where the valve seats were cut directly into cast iron cylinder blocks. However for casual use unleaded is unlikely to cause any harm, but if you are concerned go the lead substitute route.

[wristpin]

Re your other “phantom post” – have you sorted the kick start issue. Probably just a stuck ratchet gear.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uxpmk9x71kl2e01/Villiers%20kick%20start%20ratchet.doc?dl=0

[wristpin]

When it comes to dismantling I’m a great believer in Plus Gas but diesel and heating oil (kerosene) are both good, particularly if item can be left in a tank to soak for a few days. A few contributors to American sites recommend home brewed potions involving automatic transmission fluid (ATF) and acetone.
I’m no lover of the original WD40 other that for what it was originally marketed for -Water Dispersal. As a friend says “the best thing about WD40 is their marketing and publicity, never mind the product”!

[wristpin]

Your Landmaster later became the Saturn which was available in both push and self-propelled forms. I’m fairly certain that a couple of years ago someone documented the restoration of one on this forum – but it could have been elsewhere!
I’ve got some Saturn literature and I will scan it and post it later.

Had it on file!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oo2ecd1aas8gf9e/Landmaster%2014%20inch0001%20-%20Copy.pdf?dl=0

[wristpin]

You may be able to seal the float by the careful application of a soldering iron to melt the plastic into the gap.

[wristpin]

or, NGK B2LM

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