OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Rotary Couple of utilities added to the collection.

Picked these two up over the weekend the green one has had quite a wild "restoration" done at some point with 12v connectors used to join up wire for the plug lead

Awesome finds you have there.
What are you going to do with them?
Will re-restore them?
At least they have gone to a better home.

Red one will be just getting a tidy up and used might do a more thorough job on the other as its a bodgey and has to come apart anyway

Also means I can offload the rover and masport and keep it a victa house lol

I like the red one with its minimalist styling.

This is a utility I created over the last couple of days. The question is can anybody identify the parts mix. Sorry I can't remember what I got the pull starter off. I got this as a sidepull full crank which had a broken crankshaft

That's an early 70s zip starter normally mounted to store brand low arch mowers and older utility models, both with north south engine orientation. It looks smart on a side facing engine. I have never seen that done before.
I like the colour coding you've done there. Helps disguise the bitsa quality, and the modified carburettor didn't escape my notice, as for the grooved tyres which make a huge difference over worn ones.

MF you nailed it, motor is from an alloy base low arch Mayfair, not sure where the pull start came from, it needed a bit of modification to the cowl to take the 2 rear screws, no big deal, file slots in the cup to make the starter grab and not slip. This motor would have been fitted with a G3 carby but it now has an LM fitted. Works like a treat and starts first pull, downside is I spent a lot of time building it up but it was just a little challenge and it gets rid of a couple more mowers from here and that keeps the missus off my back

Is that to do with the hose clamp? Did you fashion an adapter this time? You have said in the past that you fit a barrel with the G4 bayonet type fitting in place. Did you do something different here?
That is a slick looking result from your time spent and so nice and clean. Something that won't last long after use. Now you can put a built not bought sticker on it.

MF, I used to swap the barrels over but I have done a few this way now, works well, bit of work setting up the manifold. I thought it was a pity to pull apart a good motor just because the carby wouldn't fit

NormK, that's a nice solution. I always thought in the back of my mind that it was a shame to have to discard a perfectly good barrel for the sake of a fitting.
Is that car heater hose you have used? I like how the carby sticks out looking proud of itself.

No MF it is actually fire hose so it is fairly heat and chemical resistant. Just too make sure I put a piece of it in a jar of petrol and left it for a month and when I took it out it was as good as the day I put it in there. It sticks out a bit so it is only good for things like the 24 and these small slasher/utilities, but that is fine I keep finding those to rebuild that use the full crank motors. They don't bother me these days because I have worked out how to get the cup starters to work without slipping

Funny how you employ an engine that's older than the base. That's Victa for you, the diesel engine of mowers as AVB has cleverly compared two strokes to in the longevity stakes. Besides, the older the Victa 160, the generally better. The late 60s ones with wind up starts are like a sports car to listen to.
I love the industrial quality the adapter for the G4 gives the ute mower you built. Thanks for showing us pics.

Tough, rugged and fit for purpose. Motor bikes have been using hose connections on the carby for years

Nice job Norm, here's what I have playing with, full crank 160cc. missing a few parts but mowed the back lawn yesterday, now it won't start........ electric start
speedy

Hi Speedy, great mowers, so tough. Hopefully it is only a float needle that is the problem and you should get those soon, they said 3/5 days but that is Aus Post. Problem with the float needles it is so hard to diagnose because there is no visible way of testing them. I just throw the plastic ones away, don't even bother any more to see if they might work. Just check it has spark, the ignition module can fail on these because it isn't in the airflow, I mount them on the top side of the plate to get a bit of air over it.

Hi Speedy,
no smoke I notice, just a spinning turbine. I think the reason it may not have restarted was the missing cowl not giving the engine much needed cooling from the fan.