I'd say these kits were provided by Victa to service agents as feedback must have indicated a common issue with front axle movement. The metal shims provide an easy solution by reinforcement to the worn metal in the body.
Regarding the decompression valve not seeming to work properly on this mower, going by the pullback with the zip starter and poor running of the engine when it did start, I discovered a shorter PT decompression valve with missing vacuum hose outlet had been (partially) screwed on. I'm amazed it ran at all. Lucky I have a couple of spare longer type decompression valves. I then discovered another problem. A slipping flywheel was making it hard to start without the momentum it provides. Suspecting it maybe a sheared off key, as the nut seemed plenty tight, I removed the disc and found the key intact. After tightening, it ran normally four the first time since I got it a month ago, and sounds very beastly and starts on first subsequent pulls. Got myself another working full crank 160 now, bringing my total to five!
