;D Just when I thought it should be oil it could still be grease. Thanks for giving me hope that I may have been correct in the first place. No sign of any pads.
Just to update this I've phoned a local electric motor repairers this morning and asked about the old Gryphon. A very helpful chappie said it should be greased with a couple of pumps from the gun every few months. Nothing special but they use shell alvania.
I feel relieved now that I hadn't been filling it with the wrong stuff.