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The Victa cut grass for the first time in decades....................



I had two passes by today say how cool this thing is, and like a proud "grandson" (it's just too old for me to be its fatherly figure), I couldn't help but proudly agree. It's not perfect, it's go a few battle scars, its noisy and kinda dangerous.......................but oh-so full of character.

So, while there is some tinkering still left to do, but I'd consider this old Victa recommissioned!

I wish you could come and do my edges like that. Where are you with a street with virtually no cars parked on it?

Mower looks and sounds great and not over restored.

Danny

I toyed with restoring it because I usually like things to be perfect. But for some reason, I think there is charm to be had here so I decided to just get it running. If I had restored it, I'd then be inclined not to use, which would defeat the purpose of buying it.......................I just like the sound these things make.

The street, byproduct of living in a country town. And the edges, credit goes to a Atom Edger..................the only Honda engine in my fleet.

In May 2018, I had a rush of blood and decided I needed to buy one of the last 2-Stoke Victa’s. Actually, I had already done that exactly three years prior in buying a 2-Stroke Mustang. By 2018, the 2-Stroke was in its final days and I wanted that engine on the classic Utility format.



I actually had to special order a MasterCut 460 with the 2-Stroke engine, which I traded for a perfectly fine Masport 21-inch Utility with the excellent Briggs 850 engine. Shoot me, I like lawn mowers and 2-Stoke Victa's to be specific!

Brand new off the showroom floor in May 2018.........................











What I love about the Victa Utility is how bloody light and maneuverable they are. The large pro-grade double ball-bearing wheels combine with the low weight to make this mower very easy to use. The 2-Stroke variant weighs in at 27kg, the Briggs only 26.5kg and the Honda the heaviest at 29kg. On 2-Strokes, there was a large 3-litre capacity fuel tank remote mounted on the handles, in fact the 4-Stokes look naked without it. I actually snapped the plastic fuel tap on the tank very early on, dumping the better part of 3-litres of 25:1 fuel into the tray of my Ranger. I was filthy angry over that, not only did I break the tap then footed the bill for its repair and lost fuel, but I also made a giant mess that took ages to remove from the tray.

So, I mention all this because I now own one of the first Victa Utility mowers, and also one of the very last fitted with the 2-Stroke engine. My childhood neighbor had a 1970's Victa Utility, a mower I was always fascinated with. He would be out there on a Saturday cutting the grass with the engine screaming its head off. Ever since, I’ve been into Victa’s, 2-Stokes Victa’s to be specific. That’s why I bought one back in 2018, and now I have its grandfather for good measure.













And so, that is what a 60-year age gap looks like!

For those wondering, yes I detailed the MasterCut before taking those images.

Enjoying your photo-rich posts DFB and liking your criss-cross flooring material. What is it??

Floor is called Swisstrax Ribtrax, which is made in the USA. Typically used for detailing because it allows moisture to drain through and out. I chose this because the concrete underneath looked absolutely terrible with peeling paint, never paint concrete by the way. Rather than completely stripping the garage and having something else applied, I chose to install Swisstrax myself.

https://www.flexico.com.au/?utm_source=googlebusiness&utm_medium=seo&utm_campaign=clicks
https://www.flexico.com.au/collections/ribtrax

I actually installed it on Boxing Day back in 2021. I had some help from my Dad, but I did all the connecting and cutting. Took us about 7 hours, most of the time being the cuts. Each tile locks together with pegs and loops, so it goes down pretty quickly once you get into a rhythm.









The main attraction for me, other than how it looks, is it meant I didn't have to gut my garage in preparation. All I did was move things as I needed, then slid them back in place when I had finished.















The great thing about this stuff is that it means I can always have a clean surface to work on. Water and dust just flow through, I then occasionally vacuum or blow the garage out. Prior to the floor, I would have to be doing that every few days. I will say, there is a few versions of Swisstrax, but Ribtrax is the one to go for as it helps with the cleaning better than the smooth.

In the end, the fact I could install it myself so quickly meant the price to do this was less than having someone come in and apply epoxy, which isn't great stuff, or grind and seal the concreate.

Fitted an inline fuel filter on the Victa 18 today.



I tried to get these locally, but my options are limited with small engine shops, and the one I went to of course doesn't bother stocking these very common Briggs & Stratton ones. Once again, online shopping to rescue.

These are a 1/4-inch barb Sten's branded aftermarket filter, OEM Briggs is hard to find in Australia. There are two types of these bi-directional filters, the white ones are for engines fitted with a fuel pump, the red ones for gravity fed fuel systems.





It obviously looks a little out of place on such an old mower, but it's at least functional, unlike the rope material used on the fuel tap submerged in the tank. I've been focused on getting this mower to a usable condition, so the filter makes sense in this application. I actually mowed my back lawn with it the other day and came away very impressed. For such a small engine, its got bags of grunt to rip through heavier growth.

Paint it. Trompe l'oeil!

Danny

I can't believe how hard it is to buy a replacement / alternative air filter for these.

I came across this video in my searches, and went looking for the Mann C88 filter, but it looks to be NLA.



After sifting through countless filters online, I came across this Baldwin PA1834 which on paper suggested it would fit.

https://www.filterdiscounters.com.a...rj6s2QcJh1MVz2qs#product-additional-info

These are the original filter dimensions -

Outside Diameter – 90mm
Inside Diameter – 40mm
Height – 60mm

These are the Baldwin dimensions -

Outside Diameter – 89.7mm
Inside Diameter – 50.8mm
Height – 50mm

So, I took a punt and placed an order.



My heart dropped when the outer diameter was just a shade to big to clear the indents on the filter housing. A little gentle persuasion on the outer rim of the filter with a hammer and it was fitting nicely. Just like in the video, there is a height difference between the old and new, so I used an foam tyre dressing applicator as padding, which I traced and cut to fit the central intake.



The new filter fits snuggly in place, just at the right height. My main problem is the broken tab on the lower filter housing doesn't hold the cap in place firmly to help seal the filter to the base. I'm still looking for a replacement, so had to resort to cable ties to hold it down. Not my usual style, but it will work for now.



I then went and cut the back lawn, which I had let grow a little taller than normal to test out the performance of the engine. Nothing beats a 2-stroke in heavier conditions, I just love how they sound when under load and powering through thicker growth. It's also interesting not having a traditional engine governor, the engine speed regulation is purely on the user. Not sure the neighbors appreciate the noise and smoke these engines make, but I'm having a ball! Actually, I'm surprised how well these mowers cut, the finish left behind is superb despite the lack of a catcher or a directional deck design or blades.

Look what I just scored.............................

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.