OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Rotary Victa 2a Restoration - A New Collection Addition

Finished this one on the weekend .

Hi Al,
Wow!! what an immaculate restoration of a Model 2a Rotomo and a great addition to your collection.
Absolutely brilliant mate....
Can't wait to see the rest of your collection posted here as we'd all like to see 'em, Al.

That display of the three early models side by side is an excellent reference. It seems to have finally resolved which model a rough old Victa I once borrowed for a few months in 1963, actually was. I've been trying for years to figure out why it had a pressed metal fuel cap, no cowl at all over the cylinder and head, and no height adjustment system that I was prepared to try to use. Your example looks a whole lot better than it did - it was just kept at a factory for mowing the nature strip, and had been used that way for a long time. I used it as a utility to flatten out the bumpy ground in my newly-built house, and mow the weeds down into a semblance of grass. It did all that without a murmur of protest. I still hate its carburetor though - the crudest I've ever seen, even now, on a series-production machine of any kind.

How was that carburettor held on Grumpy?

I don't recall, Ty. The only reason I remember the carburetor at all, is that it was a variable venturi carburetor with no needle, so its air fuel ratio had to vary widely as the throttle position changed. At idle it must have been practically spewing liquid fuel, and at full bore it had to be far too lean for maximum power. If you had enlarged the jet to get maximum power, the fire would go out altogether at idle, and the spark plug would foul even faster (like in minutes instead of a couple of hours). I was disgusted by the concept of deliberately making something like that on the justification, "Well it runs doesn't it? What do you expect in a lawnmower." All the lousy British engines we were afflicted with in those days at least had real carburetors.

Ah, the reason I ask, is that the earliest ones were held on with a large brass nut, in which the intake port and carburettor mount simply met rather than interlocking, the brass nut was simply a nut and bolt that had a sleeve in the middle, when the nut was tightened the sleeve gripped the intake and the carby, and held them next to each other.

Similar in function to the plastic nut that holds a pedestal fan at height.

As you can imagine, this was a pretty ridiculous system, and it took very little use for the nut to shave free, casing the carby to come loose, which resulted in some pretty poor running.

In many cases people would drill a hole in the side of the nut, and tap it, then insert a grub screw to fix the nut in place.

However, in most cases they simply went back to the repair shop, which resulted in a new carby being fitted, an updated model with a reliable mounting system. The old brass nut carburettors were then generally discarded by the shop, and now, they have become a most prized possession.

Up until the late 60's, Victa used slide carburettors, all but one (the 3Q) were based on, and resembled the original Victa carby, there was the 3F, the 3L and the 3S, the only differences were the mount size of the first two, and the 3S was for 160cc engines, none of them had a Jet needle.

The 3Q had a plastic slide, which was molded to better control the flow through, but still no Jet needle.

To my knowledge, the only time Victa ever used it was on the Industrial version of the 3F/L/S series carburettors, and those industrials are not easy to find.

In the late 60's they went to the G2, and then the G3 both butterfly carburettors, that were governed by an air vane mounted on the carby itself (Victa took a while to try governing again, after their bizarre and failed attempt at doing so with the "Automatic) these carburettors are more effective in my opinion, particularly the G3.

After that, came the Mid 70's introduction of the plastic G4, which is governed by a vacuum line to a diaphragm, the design was updated to the LM in the early 80's, which had some slight modifications, and that one is still in use today.

I didn't ever take it apart, Ty, or even pay any attention to it, because it kept running "properly" (allowing for the awful carburetion). At that age, I tended to let sleeping dogs lie. Still do, usually.

Still, I wonder where that old mower is today, either way, it's now sought after!!!

Excellent restos Alwil. They look "museum" quality.
If mine approaches halfway to that standard I will be happy.
That is - when I get the flamin' Hammer paint !!!!!!(on order again)
Stationary

Ta Da!!! 100 posts.

Howdy, they look absolutely magic! Congratulations!

I had a bloke drop by the other day saying he had an old Victa with the tank in the Handle bars, don't know if it has a cowl or not though. He said about selling it, what sort of price range are they in? Going by the bloke, I'd say it'd be in the well used condition.

Cheers.

[Censored] that's a fine example of a 2A. Properly my most favourite mower.Don't know why I just love those ones.Wish my one was as good as that.I just can't find the right starter pulley.Anyway enough of my problems very good work alwil,you should be proud of that one.