Here's another Supaswift that passed through my hands about fifteen years ago. I can't remember if that's the original engine or not. I'd brought it home to swap bits to keep my Little Bob going.
A parts manual would be very useful, thanks! I'm sold on the old-time Supaswifts, but I've never found one without mods or bits missing. It's frustrating.
Here's the Supaswift I found recently, with the Victa Kirby engine removed and the deck cleaned up. I like the cute Grand Prix styling. It could have been silly-looking, but it's actually quite an elegant design. The original colour of the deck was orange hammertone, which has faded to bronze where exposed to the sun. The uprights that carry the handle mechanism are silver hammertone. Notice that only three of the engine mounting holes have been used. I think that indicates that it had a Kirby engine before the Victa unit was put it. It also has two rivet holes on the side where Supaswift usually put throttles, so IF it's a 1966-67 range mower it has to be the Model 50 which came with the 143cc Kirby two-stroke. But that's a big if, it might be an unknown model from the later Sixties.
G'day suebutcher That was a great mid-arch design. I would like to point out something about chassis design for rotaries...
The best designs had front strengthening to avoid base cracking. I have seen too many bases cracked due to front impacts. The bumper over-riders (auto style) did a good job on your base.
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A parts manual would be very useful, thanks! I'm sold on the old-time Supaswifts, but I've never found one without mods or bits missing. It's frustrating.
Here's my Galaxy GT looking more like what it's supposed to be, now I've found more Superswift parts at the tip. I'm very happy with the results. The silver tank decal is ink-jet printed and on self-adhesive mylar sheet, and waterproofed with clear lacquer. I've no idea where you'd buy the material, it just turned up a junk sale, like these things do!
The Galaxy GT from suebutcher last page,(page 5) looks amazingly good and my Galaxy Quest is now over ,not sure why but this Galaxy below took a few years to find.
Hmm never seen a Whilwind rear discharge mower anywhere.
Hi Max I am embarrassed when reading my last post that I failed miserably in not mentioning your research, comments and images in this topic. What was I thinking!
Sincere apologies.
Congratulations on entering the space age. I note the safety Shield sticker too.
Hey all, Just picked up this to use while I'm restoring my 85 Victa Utility. Does anyone know much about it? I can't find a [Censored] thing but its a nice quality built machine that's for sure. It's a 1982 engine.. Also first time poster so hope the images work!
I put an image of this mower back on the last page (5) my model has the dark bronze base with a Tecumseh engine and was sold by Vulcan ,my mower is just a rebadged SupaSwift .
Your mower is a 1982 SupaSwift ,these would have been sold in the late seventies and in the eighties ,obviously with the Briggs and Stratton motor.
Here's a couple of other SupaSwift mowers I got running this year ,one is the 1963 SS with the Covid 19 air filter and a 1982 SS Little Bob ,it's been repowered with the Quantum motor. The Little Bob works great as a slasher after fitting 4 Victa blades. (I had to grind a very small amount off the ends of the Victa blades to stop them rubbing)
Would anyone have one spare black front and rear wheel cover like the pic a few posts above by maxwestern? TIMBO, they are an underrated and oft overlooked brand. I love my old 80s crate. Cuts very precise. My neighbour thinks it's great.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Yes the Quantum looks a little strange in the above images Mf.
It's an optical illusion ( depth perception with images ) the base is 18 inches but in the image the Qantas engine looks as big as the base but we know the Briggs Qantas is not 18 inches wide.
The Hunter Below is an optical illusion as well ,only believe half of what you see
I have a few Supa Swifts missing hub caps as well ,it's interesting that early on mower manufacturers used coloured air cleaner housings and hub caps and then switched to making black caps and housings because the orange / red plastic deteriorated quickly in the sunlight (mostly the Turner orange filter housings and SupaSwift had red caps then black but went back to making red caps)
Anyway that was the story behind all those black Rover air filer Housings and why they are all black.
A Villiers 140 powered side discharge Supa-Swift that's just been sold on Gumtree in Victoria. I was tempted, but it went very quickly. From the mid-Seventies, I guess. It's a pity the pic is so small, I'm curious about that elaborate decal on the front.
