G’day Norm (and anyone else who might be reading!)
In bits of time I’ve been able to grab I’ve been sourcing parts for my mower recommissionings.
It’s very hit and miss with something of this era. I’ve learned way more than I ever thought I’d need to know about the various components but now feel I know absolutely nothing!
I have had a look at a wheel that is a reproduction marketed by “GA Spares” it looks ok. If it lasts 10 years then I think that’d be reasonable. I’m going to use these mowers so I don’t want stuff that disintegrates. The bearings aren’t what I’d use but I suspect if they were built to my spec they’d likely cost twice as much. I’m thinking of buying a couple of sets. The same mob sell some blades I’ve had a good experience with in the past so I’m hopeful.
It seems that the white air filter housings to take the short Victa filters are completely unavailable anywhere. It’s a part that I’d really like to have to make the mower look complete. I’ve got to keep searching because there’s bound to be some hidden in a dark corner somewhere around.
Front axel clips are also unavailable. I’m hoping I can make some though as they’re simple. Bit of appropriate gauge spring steel heated, bent, normalised, drilled, reheated, oil quenched and then tempered back. There’s going to be some guess work on how much tempering back. Too much and they’re going to be soft and bend, too little and they’ll be too hard and brittle. Bit of a palaver for what’s really a $1 part.
One conundrum is the blade height. It’s way too low on the Special for a utility mower. I’m thinking that the carrier was probably updated by Victa for the high arch and the part used on all models. I’ll pull the whole assembly apart and see if I can engineer a solution.
My parts list is getting long! Over 80 items.
Ironbark