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

So I have decided not to do a traditional restoration and go with a more custom approach will still go with the traditional green for the base and handles but will have polished brass nuts chrome where I can probably some updated wheels because I don't want to trade my kidney for a ridgy didgy set and what ever else I can think of along the way.

It all starts here a fairly original model 4 wheels are bin worthy cracked and generally worn beyond repair haven't tried to start has good compression though and good spark

Got the old girl running today though as soon as the fuel tap was turned on fuel came flowing out of the primer are there rebuild kits available for these carbies?

Got bored so rolled the mowers out for a few happy snaps

Not as such. NOS needle/seat sets do come up on Fleabay, and they are the main wear part for these old 3F/3L carbies.
Apart from that, the only parts which generally need replacing are the 4 fibre washers.

Repair guide download: https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/pages/Victa/Carby%20Information/G3%20Carby/G3%20carby.pdf

Floats do sometimes spring leaks and sink over time, but are usually repairable with soft solder after you get the fuel out.

Thanks gadge that link was very useful saved it for later reference . Any idea where I could source the fiber washers ? I've mainly only played with g4's before

fibre washers.......keep a watchful eye on fleabay.as gadge says ,they too
do come up quit often.

If you type in victa 18 to ebay you get mostly early Victa stuff

The main fibre washer that has to be replaced, is the one that goes under the carby bowl retaining screw. It often doesn't survive being disturbed, when the bowl is pulled off. The others are also usually fine unless dismantled.

Fibre washer assortments are available in places like Bunnings plumbing section [~$4.50 for a 30 pk], and there should be something suitable as is, or usable with a bit of file work on the ID, in those.

Just a tip: to help the new washer survive a bit better, smear both sides with grease/vaseline before installing it.

Thanks guys for all the tips and advice fairly new to victas so learning as I go. Will more modern wheels fit or will I need something from that era ?

Keep the wheels you have, they are probably the most sought after parts. As far as I know, Victa has retained the same wheel spindle from the early days, length and diameter. I haven't actually checked but I'm guessing that is the case. If wrong happy to be told

Have only one good wheel out of 4 and this mower will be used so not real keen on the price of correct wheels

Have patience, grasshopper.

GA Spares [the last Oz aftermarket supplier of these wheels] discontinued them a couple of years ago now, but I'm sure that a Chinese manufacturer will wake up to this market niche.

Best to avoid the 'first on market' Chinese versions when they appear, but with time I'm sure they'll get some decent product on the FleaBay market.

It's a bit like waiting for Rare Spares to get around to commissioning repro parts, that are NLA from Ford Aust ...

Well one can always dream in the mean time . Looking at making some cast alloy ones but keep getting stuck on where to source the actual rubber tyres next option make something else fit.

If you just want functional wheels, some others do fit. Quite a few other brands use 1/2" axles, [Honda, SupaSwift, Rover...]

Victa is a bit unique, in that they went to 9/16" diameter axles after the Model 5's, and stuck with that thereafter.

Thanks there always seems to be one manufacturer who goes against the grain and does there own thing .

You can often find plenty of Rover mowers with non worn out wheels on them because the Briggs has given up the ghost, cut the spindles off and weld them onto your Victa. A question to ask yourself, how many of these over 60 year old neglected Victas are pulled out of the back of a shed, bit of a carby clean and they fire straight up and capable of being put straight back to work. You don't see too many 4 strokes capable of that

I've it's very true though very simple to work on and very little to go wrong with them . That's why the search for some alternative wheels so it can keep doing what it does best, taming the lawn and killing mosquitoes.

For sure. The old 125's are really hard to kill - it usually takes a real gutful of water or dirt to do it.
Norm, the older Victa 18's up to ~1960 ran 1/2" diameter stub axles. It was only after that, that they went to the 9/16" size.

A few years back now, I wanted to use some used Victa wheels I had on hand, for an oxy bottle trolley I was building. So the solution for axles was a couple of 9/16" high tensile bolts, and welding of 2 nuts onto each side of the frame to screw them into... I also built a trolley for a 60L oil drum based on a Victa axle and wheels.

There are plenty of Utility wheels around if you can make and weld 9/16" axles to your mower. I have one with these wheels which gets used and these wheels are solid and make the mower very easy t
o push.

Think that's possibly what I'll end up doing ball bearing s would be nice too though do you think it would be possible to just use a sleeve to thicken the current axle to accept the 9/16 wheels to keep the axles standard ?

It can be done but not easy to make a sleve to slip on because you are talking only 1/16th and that becomes 1/32 wall thickness and that is like tissue paper. You can fit a sleve and then turn it down to size but you have to cut the axle off to turn it so much easier to make new stubs

Captrusty,
You could just get a set of later model ball bearing wheels, and replace the bearings with 1/2" bore ones, which are very easy to get....

I haven't bought any for a while, but the last set of these from FleaBay set me back ~$17 posted, for 8 bearings and 4 retainer washers [as used on Masports].

You do make a good point there norm hadn't thought of it in those terms may not be worth going down that track.

Sounds like what I'll do gadge seems to be the solution I was looking for kind of opens options up quite a bit then.

Thanks every one for taking the time to answer everything has been very helpful

As far as your fuel coming out of the bleeder hole when you turn the fuel.They have a brass type rivet that holds down a brass flap which controls how far the needle comes out to allow fuel to flow into the carby.You will find that,that brass rivet has come out to far.If you push that rivet back into the the top part of the carby you will find that it will stop flooding the carby with fuel.

Cheers blumby will have a look at it when I pull it apart after I get the fiber washers etc together and some new o-rings for the fuel tap

Bit of an update cowl and tank painted when a bit different on the tank decided to paint the middle in green and polish the end caps looks quite smart with the brazing adding a bit of a yellow pin stripe to it photos to follow shortly