I picked this lovely Sunbeam base up from fellow member Kye, pre Victa days and I believe this would be a four stroke base unless the two stroke model used the same base but with an adapter plate.
Would anyone have some pics of the four stroke machine other than the brochure one which shows little of the engine, the VK40 Kirby engine was fitted using an additional dress cowl similar to the two stroke model pictured.
... and I believe this would be a four stroke base unless the two stroke model used the same base but with an adapter plate.
G'day Paul As you know, these 'blue' Sunbeams pre-date Sunbeam's ownership of Victa. There is good evidence that there was one chassis, and an adaptor plate was used for the Kirby 2-stroke in the 1960s.
I have an orange/brown Sunbeam here, might see if I can get it out of the wood pile, I never bothered with it because the bloke I got it from said it had bearing noise and it did come with a catcher so that was a bonus
They are the same design Paul but I have not seen the axle dimensions the same on Victa mowers compared with the Sunbeam.
I would say the axles are not interchangeable from Sunbeam to Victa or vice versa.
I think the Sunbeam base is a separate casting for the 4 stroke and 2 stroke with the orange/brown Sunbeam.
I think the 2 and 4 stroke die is the same but when casting the 4 stroke base they bolt a extra centre piece onto the die and that creates the larger void in the centre for the 4 stroke.
It looks like the centre of the die is interchangeable .
I may be wrong about the die but this would explain why the 2 stroke base has the 4 stroke engine mounting casting.
I looked at trying to dig the orange/brown one I have here from under the wood pile but it looked like too much work as I can only see the handle sticking out. I will have another look to see if I can get it out, I'm a bit curious now
Ok just to confirm the axles are half inch not the 9/16th that Victa uses. I think this is one you rejected when you got all those mowers Max, been here for a long time
Very nice base there Paul, Last time I was looking over my Lawnkeeper 2 I didn't notice any adapter plate and the base does look the same as yours, let me know if you would like pictures of specific area's to compare.
I do like that Sunbeam Norm it's just that I had 5 of them at the time ,now I have about 8, only a couple are the older Sunbeam mowers with the blue base.
Somewhere around here there should be a couple of 125cc Sunbeam mowers stashed away.
Do you have a blue catcher similar to the one in the picture or a cowling you would part company with ?, my blue lawnkeeper 2 has the original catcher with it but with a few cracks and is slightly different in shape to the one pictured. Very interesting that this one would fit i think but is different in shape and colour.
Thanks again for all the information, I wondered if there was an early and late catcher for the Sunbeams. I picked up the blue chassis yesterday and tried the catcher that I had on it and although it went on the rear flap is too big and doesn’t seal the opening.
Interesting about having 1/2” axles on the frames, there are a few nice ones for sale around the place. I have seen plenty with Lawnkeeper on the cowl header but I have one that is just Sunbeam?
The catcher I have is brown I just haven't found it yet. Obviously on mine somebody has fitted a different fuel tank because the filler cap has been moved to the center, I just found in my garage a Victa with an orange lawnkeeper motor on it turned sideways, I will pull that motor off and put it on the Sunbeam and it will be a good mower again. I had seen this mower sitting there for a few years and never really thought much about it. This motor has a G3 carby on it I will get a pic of it shortly when I pull it out of there. That one is another one you ignored Max. I also have one of those black catchers Max, I haven't tried it on the Sunbeam I just thought it was for a Victa.
This is my Victa/Sunbeam, I guess this could just be fitted with a Sunbeam cowl, will never know but it will look better fitted the right way around on a Sunbeam base
I never noticed before but the blue base at the top of the page has a larger rear discharge flap like the later brown base.I will check some more blue bases ,the one I have is a shorter flap .
Don't know any differences in catcher dimensions,the catcher I have is the brown catcher and it fits both mowers,it looks darker in the images.
I found a high arch Sunbeam under a mower pile looks like the same cowl.
Hi all At first glance I thought the blue bases were the same but after looking at the pictures posted there appears to be a difference. In the pictures Paul and Max have posted it shows two raised sections of casting radiating out from the centre of the base ( left side in Pauls pic ) As this would create a liquid catchment area there is a drain hole in the base between them. In this instance the liquid would be fuel as this area would be in line with the carby fuel bowl which has a bleed knob in the bottom. My base doe's not have this. I'm wondering if the 2 and 4 stroke models were manufactured and released at the same time or did on e precede the other with a base modification introduced during that period, any idea's ?
PS Please check my post under wanted in case there is something you may have.
Had a bit of a problem with the Sunbeam, I couldn't get it started, but the Victa/Sunbeam started up with a new float needle so I have swapped the motors over and I now have another good little mower here. The Victa/Sunbeam was never going to be appealing to anybody even though it was working well The second pic is of the underside of the Sunbeam base where it looks as if they could cut the bottom out to fit the 4 strokes
I just stripped the handelbars down because they were rusty and I wanted to paint them up, what a complex costly to manufacture set up they are, no manufacturer these days would ever think of doing that. I guess it was from a time when people paid good money for a mower and they expected a bit of quality
Ok I have this one running after having another fight with a float needle and I am impressed with how much smoother a F/C is in the north/south configuration than east/west. I had completely forgotten about the difference. Turning the motor east/west was such a bad design mistake, you can see why they did it , well I think I can, but there is a reason all the 4 strokes run north south because it makes the mower feel much smoother with a lot less vibration
I noticed that as well Norm. My Sunbeam (1972 I believe) ran smooth, but knocked on start up and spin down. Worn gudgeon pin/piston. Due to the fact it is so solid, I am planning on giving it a hone and new piston.
Don't usually do new pistons and all that, but the handles and alloy chassis are so strong (weighs a ton compared to the tin steel used now) that its worth it.
I paid $20 with the catcher at the tip - often these older models sit there for a while due to people thinking its old and will be completely stuffed.
Granted in this case it needs a new piston, but fair enough because it has already done 47 (maybe 45 as it looks like it sat for a year or 2) work. And pushing it back to the car over gravel, it still felt as tight and rattle less as a new one.
