OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Victa Lawn Mower Frames Victa 18 Project

Hi DFB,

That filter assembly looks good ,finding good original parts is getting more difficult these days.

The old broken clip can be repaired with a soldering iron and some plastic ,I repaired a catcher
with a lot of damage https://outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/119760/catcher-repair.html

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Cheers
Max.

Hi DFB,
What did you end up paying for that filter housing?

Hi Norm,

I still see fairly complete Victa 18 mowers with air filters for $50.but they don't come up too often.

I saw this housing online for about $20 more than what you sell a refurbished complete 4 stroke mower.

This is why a lot of people are manufacturing replica parts for these old mowers.

Took me a few years to get a collection of filters.

Cheers
Max.

Far too much, $95 plus shipping.

Early in my searches, I came across a collection of them on eBay that the seller was asking $230 for. Every piece was damaged, all were missing the switch. Silly money. I guess they could be repaired in some form, but again, there was only one of the actual choke insert, which is needed for the engine to run properly at full throttle.



I also managed to find the original Model 5 Special spanner, which I may or may not have bid on but bailed once it cleared $100. Again, just silly.

A couple of "finishing touches". The funny thing is, when I started this project, tracking down certain parts was somewhat difficult. Then as I was coming to the end, parts started to appear out of thin air................typical.

Firstly, I managed track down a full set of blade bolts, cup washers and felt washers. While I had the correct nut and bolt, without the associated washers I wasn't happy with how the blades were mounted on the disk. These things are dangerous as it is without having the blades secured as intended.





And finally, the replacement filter housing was the final piece of the puzzle, I now have a fully functioning Victa 18 Special..........................







At some point, I'll need to look at the starter as it's not always recoiling. This one has the metal wire rope, something I have never seen let alone dealt with before.

As intended, I bring it out for the occasional mow, its just so charming.

Regarding the complete air cleaner I found amongst the rubbish when my son was cleaning up I had better give a bit more care to it

After a very dry summer, we've finally had some rain.......................which teamed with the warm early Autumn weather, well the grass is growing again.

The Victa 18 won't be used for cutting my customers lawns, mainly because of a lack of safety and the 1950's reliability. Nor did I want to end up with a restored museum piece that collects dust in the garage because I'd be afraid of scratching the paint. Never say never, I may end up buying another to restore and have the best of both worlds. But for now, the little Victa gets fired up occasionally to mow the front lawns.

As per the above-mentioned rain, the Kikuyu is having a field day at the moment. This Victa cuts through it effortlessly and actually finishes down remarkably well.



I do wonder if the thinness of the blades helps cut the grass cleaner and finer. The blades shown below are all 18-inch blades, the one of the left is for the Victa 18, the middle one is for a standard 18-inch cut & catch model, and the one on the right is for a MasterCut utility.

It was hard getting an image that clearly shows what I'm talking about here. A rough measurement has the Victa 18 blade at just above 1mm, the other two are just under 3mm. Might not sound a lot, but it's very noticeable in your hands.





Now, having said that, Victa offered three different blades for these mowers, Fine (22 gauge / 0.759mm), Medium (20 gauge / 0.911mm) and Extra Heavy (18 gauge / 1.214mm). Going off that, I have the Extra Heavy set fitted. Frankly, even these thicker blades are pretty dicey, no wonder they would slice people up.

When I bought this mower, it came with a collection of period owner's manual and supplements. The following is from the small paper slip that held a set of complimentary "MEDIUM" blades, all in 1950's speak........................

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Those starters can be a pain to get working nicely. When you look at repairing your starter and if your bothered you can buy new reproduction rubber handle covers in either black or green for $50 from a bloke in Sydney.

I don't suppose you have a website link?

Here's the photos I couldn't PM them.

Brilliant!! Very much appreciated!