OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Victa Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers Victa 18 model 4

MrCJ, you can only attach a maximum of 10 images to a post. After that you have to begin another post. Here are the pictures that missed the boat on your post, above:

MrCJ the model 4 is comming along nicely, good work, the S3 should come up alright too, does the S3 have a cracked base on the left hand side, or is it just the paint lifting?

I agree MrCJ, the Model 4 is looking brilliant thus far....I can't wait to see one finished!

the 1st few pics are how i got the mower and from advice from Mal it turned out to be a miss match model 4 motor and model 5 base but Mal had a spare base that i got off him (the photos are in the model 4 auto forum) and this is how it has come up so far

After a media blast with aluminium oxide and a quick polish

you painted the flash? But then again many do as a personal preference, it's a teadious job painting raised letters well, good job.

Ya I took my time almost 2 hours but it has come up good I also painted the badge by hand with a fine brush I just need to finnish off the green ill post pics of the auto badge when it is done

Hi MrCJ,
I, like jonesy, noticed the flash as well...why Victa never painted it is a complete mystery. I painted the flash on my M5 S1 coffee table and did the lettering in silver just as a personal preference and it came up a treat.

Yours looks fantastic mate, a long job and well executed!

I was told at the time they were new, that Victa painted the smile logo just with a paint roller, and that they had designed the raised up part for that purpose.

Thanks guys and deejay I love the coffee table you have given me ideas but im not doing it with my model 4 but I got a model 5 coming soon hopefully that I was thinking of turning in to a coffee table as my current one is to big for the loung room in our new place

But my model 4 wouldn't be where is it so far with out the help from Mal thanks mate

The reason they never painted the flash is,in fact close enough to what grumpy has stated. Since the flash is lower again than the 18 and the Smiley face logo it was left base colour as the applicator ran over the highest point only. I have tried the sponge method a few times with mixed results. Basically the same way you would use a paint edger. Dip it in the paint so it it jst penetrates the sponge and wipe it over the 18 and logo,and it should level out before it dries. Dabbing may also work (a firmer sponge is best)...

Thanks for the kind words mate,but youve done all the work and a few others have contributed info to your resto,this is what ODK is all about. Im really liking your progress so far,an incredible job for a first effort and I cant wait to see more progress images and the finished product....And Btw your little houses were nearly my dogs new play things as I busted her trying to paw them of the shelf! So come and get them as she has been known to chew metal!!!...lols.

Lol thanks mate I have had a few things come up this week ill see if I can make it out tomorrow after work

Its great that so many people are willing to share the knowledge with other people and im having fun as is my little nephew and his learning a thing or two as am I. I cant wait to see it finnished and on top of my bar all polished up and looking new again ill keep the pics coming for this build I painted the badge today but im not happy with it im thinking of blasting the paint off and starting again

Hi MrCJ,
Here is an image of an original Auto badge, it may help you with your badge resto...

Hoping this helps,

I wasnt sure how far to paint down the badge so you couldnt see the alloy once it was in the handles thats why I just painted the lot but I started painting it after a few beers so that didn't help and I was also doing it with a brush im going to leave the red as im happy with how that turned out but the green im going to blast back with aluminium oxide and start again this time without a beer in hand any tips on how to paint this would help alot I was thinking of masking it off with clear contact and cutting out what I want to paint and just spray it but im not sure how that would turn out

Well I have blasted it all back and repainted it and it looks alot better other then the contaminated part down the bottom but im not worried because it will be covered by the handles

Fiddly work there MrCJ, are you going to paint the "Automatic"?
and I wonder why you painted the centre of the "A"? as it is left silver, keep up the good work.

i wasnt sure on the A but i have since cleaned it out with thinners and a Q tip and i have tryied to paint the automatic but i havnt got a steady enough hand and i made a mess of it so i,m waiting on my brother in law to paint it for me as he does alot of very fine detail work with war hammer and air brushing cars

Agreed, my hand and eye sight aint what they used to be and I think (depends on the cost) I will have a sign writer do a couple of mine later on. what shade of green did you use? deep or mid Brunswick? What I have found is having the right brush and correctly thinned paint go a long way in making the job easier.

i used deep brunswick but when i tried to do the automatic part i used a fine detailing brush from a war hammer set i didnt have issues with seeing the job it,s just my hand is to shaky ill just leave it to my brother in law his realy good at fine detail work and has a very steady hand ill prob start working on the motor next

Got some good and bad news regarding this build bad news is the bore has already been bored out to .060 thou and finding .080 thou piston and rings are hard to come by but I have found a top end that has been bored out to .020 thou and hasnt been fitted to a motor since and also new piston and rings to match and a head that is in good condition as mine has 2 cracked fins and at a good price as well

Cool..good score mate,problem solved. You know time and time again I hear of others stripping an engine to find it O/S which naturally would be the case after 50 years. The odd thing is though out of the last 50 rotos and specials ive stripped only 2 have been OS roto at 30 thou And a special at 40...what are the odds....made my life easier as ive never had to source another barrel.

Hey just an update so far I have got a set of wheels and hubcaps in good condition and everything is almost ready for assembly other then I need all the gaskets and the dog nut for the starter I have found one but I need to go and remove it off the mower it is on but im not sure what size spanner I will need if anyone knows what size spanner i will need that would be great or if someone has one that they could measure for me as that will save me getting there with the wrong tools thanks in advance

A shifter lols....Ill go out in the freezing cold soggy miserable weather in the dark surely stubbing my toe and banging my head on the door when the sensor light doesnt turn on....just to make your life easy...geeeez! Lmao gimme 30 and ill send you a size ole boy:)

1.250...1 1/4 inch Sir:) youll need a deep socket and breaker,spanner or shifter these are usually hard to get off without a gun...you could always ask for the whole mower for the same cost since the dogs probably the rarest bit lols. Have fun Mr:)

I suggest you don't use a shifter, or even a fixed open-end spanner, on a rare nut which may be very tight. At best you'll make the nut look old and beaten up: the jaws on those types of spanner deflect considerably under load. Use a deep 6-point socket, or a good-quality ring spanner, if you want to keep it looking nice.

A rattle gun does the best, quickest job with the least damage. A breaker bar is an acceptable substitute if you have a good enough way to hold the base of the machine stationary. Because a deep 6 point 1.25" socket will be expensive, I'd seriously consider a ring spanner, but it would have to be a high quality one that fits really well on the hexagon. Do not use a mallet on the other end of the ring spanner: 12 point spanners are just not stiff enough to stand that without springing out of shape and damaging the hexagon.

Maybe another option is to take the machine to the local garage and ask the mechanic there to remove it for you with his rattle gun....

I think you'd have to be lucky for the mechanic to have the right socket, Deejay. I just took a look - normally deep-format impact sockets step down to around 70% of the hex-size, less than an inch back from the end of the socket. This job requires it to stay up to about 100% of hex-size, because of the ratchet wheel on top of that dog-nut. I think you'd have to find a thick-walled tube-type spanner (one that is fully forged, not one made from tube). They exist - I seem to have one or two, but they are older than I am, and in Whitworth sizes. This looks like a case where you have to go to a serious tool shop and buy a suitable spanner, or laboriously bore a deep impact socket to clear the ratchet wheel, or make do with the thickest-walled ring spanner you can find. I notice that the old Australian-made Sidchrome rings were pretty stout by the time you got up to that size.

Hmmmm, maybe a mower repair shop may have a socket for that purpose...they would have to have got them off regularly in those days to service the electrics....
Just a thought...