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

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...

thanks guys i think ill take my air compresser and rattle gun but ill take a breaker bar with me as well but i will have to try and get my hands on a socket
it,s not realy worth me buying the mower as i,m getting the nut for $10 and it doesnt realy have much else on it i could use if they had the starter i would get the lot just to help mal out but thats missing

MrCJ, an 1 1/4" ring spanner does the job well, if you dont have one ask at a local machinery shop like a tractor dealer for a lend of one, they can only say no, put the mower on it's side so you can grab hold of the base plate and push, an 1 1/4" ring spanner is a big spanner and provides plenty of leverage, if the rest of the mower is RS it does not really matter what means of stopping the retch from turning over, if it does not have the base plate, get inventive and rough if need be to the rest of the mower but gentle on the nut I'm only a home mechanic but have both the right ringy and socket so I dont see why they should be hard to find someone with the right tools? CAT dealers or fitters also have big AF tools if you know of any.

thanks jonsey ill see what i can come up with i have found the right socket for sale but it,s $40 from ripco and i have got a can off rost off ice the forklift mechanic at work said it works great for getting siezed up nuts off and no he doesnt have 1-1/4 the largest his got is 1"
also for those that need to remove the base plate or starter and need to stop the engine from turning over the best way i have found is to remove the head turn the motor so it,s at the bottom of its stroke and then stuff the cylinder with rags and then put the head back on it will lock the motor up you can also do this with rope by removing the spark plug and feeding it in though the hole dont ask me where i was told this i cant remember but it works i used the same trick to remove the base plate on my day to day mower and that was on tight

Hi MrCJ,
I have seen the rope trick actually used, and it worked a treat.
It is a good easy method of locking up the motor for removal of the baseplate.

I got a 32mm deep socket would that do its 0.25 mm bigger than 1-1/4

Is it a 6 point socket, not a 12 point? Will it drop down over the ratchet teeth, so it fully engages the hexagonal part?

The 0.010" clearance due to it being 32mm instead of 1.25", in isolation, is not a fatal flaw, though it would mark the points of the hexagon slightly.

its a 12 point
i,m not sure of the height on the dog nut so i don't know if it will clear until i get to the guys house unless someone who has one can measure it the socket i have got is 45mm deep

i was also thinking if it was i little bit loose try wrapping the dog nut with aluminum foil before putting the socket on just to tighten up the slack

thanks

Is that 45 mm deep before the step-down to the clearance hole for a long bolt or stud?

I agree that some shim (preferably hard-rolled brass, about 0.005" thick) would probably prevent the nut from being bruised.

You are doing all the right things and preparing properly, it's just that in your picture the thing looked brand new and it would be nice if it stayed that way. If it were just a run-of-the-mill one that has already been unscrewed with a Stillson half a dozen times, you'd be over-prepared, if anything.

this isn,t the one i,m getting it was just a pic i found as a description of what i was getting the one i,m getting looks like the mower has sat outside for a wile

and it,s about 32mm before the stepdown and 45 to the back of the socket

It looks to me as if you'll need all of that 32mm at least. It would be good to have a heavy 1.25" ring spanner in your back pocket just in case. Having said that, I'd be in your situation: the biggest ring I have is only 1.125" from memory, and I tend to handle larger nuts than that rarely. When I do have to, I drag out a heavy old Dowidat 24" adjustable, and adjust it up very closely onto the hex. However back in the days when I had a tractor I found that just wasn't adequate to deliver the torque required, and I had to borrow whatever 3/4" drive socket I needed, for use with a giant breaker bar. You aren't in that situation here: I don't think you'll need a whole lot of torque. If it doesn't come off easily you will need to apply some Penetrene and wait a few minutes, rather than just try harder.

I suggest you take some Penetrene with you.