OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Ride-On Mowers Victa Series 7 8-30 side-exit restoration

Hey guys, as I mentioned in my intro post, I've got a few rideons I'm playing with at the moment... among them being an old Series 7 Victa 8-30 which is the center of my efforts at the moment.

It has a 30" twin rotor side-exiting deck, 3 speed + reverse manual gearbox with a solid rear axle and had a pullstart Briggs 8hp in it which I removed yesterday as it is a little down on compression and fails to even try starting.

I intend to put a bit of a beefier motor in it and convert it to an electric start... around an 11.5hp or 12.5hp probably should do it, and possibly look at fitting a 34" deck under it from another mower I have around. I'm also going to restore the frame to mostly original condition, replace the crap seat with a nice padded one, repaint the entire mower, replace any bushes and belts that are dodgy, and possibly add a few little bits of my own such as headlights, an ammeter, chronometer, and possibly even look at putting some kind of sender in the fuel tank and installing a gauge.... just cos its annnoying being at the back of a 5 acre paddock and running out of fuel then having to lug a 20L can down!

Anyway, here it is as it is now, with the motor removed to a stand...






I will post more pics and document the resto as I progress with it, and any handy hints I find along the way I'll be certain to share as well!

CHeers!
Kieran

Hi Kieran, and thanks for posting the pics, mate. Best wishes for the resto, reading your post, it seems you will be making up some wiring looms for this beast; the instrument panel will look great when finished!

It looks like with the engine that the exhaust valve could be burnt out as inside the muffler looks like it has been very hot like its been combusting in there, generally when the engine is healthy the inside of the exhaust will be slightly black.

You can probably confirm an exhaust valve problem very easily, just by checking whether it has any tappet clearance. If it doesn't, it will be burned. If it does have clearance, it may still be burned but it's less likely.

Yeh the wiring for the gauges and lights (and the elcetric start) should be a little fun but the whole shebang will come up a treat I think and be well worth it when it's done. I'm gonna have a look down on the parts mowers down the back and see if I can find a decent loom that I can use I think because most of the stuff I wanna fit was standard on similar models of tractor made by Victa anyway.... but yeh failing that, i'll just make one up.

Joe, Grumpy, cheers for the tip about the motor... Being a collector of aircooled VW's means I'm definetley no stranger to valve clearance issues and burnt out valve heads hahaha. But yeh I had initially though that may have been a possibility too but it does still have some compression to the order of about 70psi... is a valve still likely? When I've burnt valves ot on my Cleveland V8 and on my Kombi a couple of times, theyve pretty much gone from full compression to bugger-all in practically no time. The exhaust does look a bit brownish like it's had half burnt fuel in it, however that may be the residue left from the wasps nest that I punched out of the muffler too... malevolant little buggers! So yeh, is a valve still likely or should I look at fueling (which appears ok) and ignition? Airgap seems to be if anything, a little close, but I'd think that'd just equate to a bigger spark wouldnt it?

I picked up a pushmower with a 5hp vertical Briggs on it yesterday that seems to have decent compression and has no big holes in the case, so if I can get that running I'll throw the motor on as a temporary... will be underpowered tho so it's not a permanent solution. I'm on the hunt for a reasonably priced good condition 12ish horse zapstart for this one but would still like to get the 8 going in the meantime if possible, just as a spare if nothing else.

Cheers!

Just been out doing a little more on the beast tonight after a camping and mild 4x4ing trip.

The other day I replaced the crappy rusted and poorly painted flakey looking metal seat with a nice padded black vinyl one that has some weathering but is untorn and still all in all in great condition.

Tonight I decided to take the flapwheel to the bonnet to clean up the corrosion pitting, and also decided to have a further play with the original motor on the stand in an attempt to get some life out of it... no dice still, as it would appear it actually has no spark. Bummer.

I'll place some more photo's up when I get time... this week is gonna be a pretty full week with a trip down to Narooma, a mad rush to get a blueslip and rego before the Easter holiday, work etc etc...

Cheers!

You should be able to check the spark quite easily. Set the correct clearance between the coil and the flywheel, temporarily disconnect the kill wire from the coil, remove the spark plug, clamp a known good spark plug to the cylinder head by its metal body, attach plug lead to the clamped spark plug, and spin motor. If you see a steady series of blue sparks across the plug gap, the ignition system is working (but could still have the wrong timing if the flywheel key is sheared or missing).

B&S do not recommend measuring compression pressure because of the effects of their EzySpin compression reduction system. You should turn the motor backwards until you reach compression, then flip the crankshaft backwards against compression and see if it bounces off. If it bounces decently, compression is satisfactory. You can learn more about the engine's compression by putting one spoonful of engine oil into the cylinder through the spark plug hole and repeating your compression test with the pressure gauge. If the pressure is substantially higher than it was without the oil, your piston rings are worn out.

Time for a bit of an update I think, for the simple reason thaaaaaat... the beast now RUNS!!!! I pulled the flywheel off the 8hp yesterday and it turned out that the almost total lack of spark was due to the points being gapped at over 35 thou. So anyway, with the points filed and regapped at 20 thou, the flywheel back together and the mag gap set at 12 thou, the motor had a good sized spark again and with some carb fiddling it started and ran, albeit badly. Whatever the case, it was apparent that I was on the home stretch so I put the motor back in, belted it all up (after having to adjust the PTO pulley which had shifted toward the crankcase and therefore didnt line up causing the belt to jump the clutch pulley).

I had to replace the throttle cable with one out of a wreck 8-26E as the original one snapped at one end and unwound at the other. After getting it all together and some less than successful attempts at getting it to run well, I ended up pulling off the carb and blowing it out exposing what appears to have been a blocked up correction jet, replaced the cruddy fuel line, and reinstalled it. After having to disassemble and clean out the starter clutch due to a couple of jammed balls (gummed up with grease), I finally got it tuned to a point where I am satisfied that I can use it, however in having said that, I am not 100% happy with the state of tune yet... I believe a replacement carb may be in order very shortly, at least until I purchase a new larger motor.

Anyway, having got the motor at least running and having taken it for a test run round the property to verify that the gearbox is in working order and the cutter functions as it should(and getting bogged in the slush from the rain in the process) I decided to then turn my attention today to the front end which it became apparent was in a very poor state of repair. I removed both wheels after ascertaining that the brass bushes on both were near non-existant, and removed about half a dozen flogged out washers that had been used to try and tame the bushless left wheel.

I ended up pulling the wheels of the 8-26E and using the one with good bushes and tread as it was on the right hand, but ended up taking the bushes out of another wheel and rebushing the original one for the left with them as all the other rims with matching solid tyres had either no tread or bad splits in the rubber. It was about that time that I realised the brass top bush for the top of the left hand kingpin had actually worn out and come out of the hexagonal hole. Unable to find a suitable replacement on any of the parts mowers, I have temporarily fixed it by using one of the worn out old excuses for bushes and a couple of washers placed around the pin underneath the kingpin top bush to keep it from falling back out of place. This should hold until I obtain a bunch of new bushes assuming they are available.

Now the front end is quite tight and usable, however the geometry is a bit off so I believe I will pull the stub axles off the almost identical burnt 8-30 and fit them when I get new bushes, as the ones on it are in pretty bad shape due to being run with no bushings and seem like theyve been abused a bit in their time anyway. When I fit the new axles I dare say I will end out using a couple of kingpin retainer collars to hold the wheels on in preference to the rather daggy and aggricultural use of a splitpin through the axle.

Next job probably will be to get some new paint where its needed.

Anyway, photos to come soon!

Just a couple of points Kieran, aimed at getting your engine running properly. First, because the breaker gap was too large rather than too small, your engine has been tuned by an incompetent, it can't have been a result of wear or neglect. That has implications for the whole engine, and the whole tractor. You have to check for abuse as well as deterioriation. Did you repeat your spark check after fixing that fault? There is still a possibility of weaknesses in the kill wire or the coil itself. It makes sense to fix each area you work on, not just stop when the engine runs a bit.

Second, I hope you cleaned out the fuel tank when you replaced the fuel hose, and verified that it has a genuine Briggs vented cap on the tank. That eliminates another whole source of future problems, and simplifies your diagnostic procedure.

Third, can you post a picture of the carburetor so we know what kind it is please? Also post the entire sequence of numbers from the cooling air cowl so we know the model, age etc.

Fourth, did you check the tappet clearance, and perform the oil-in-the-cylinder compression test, yet?

Fifth, when you unstuck the starter sprag clutch balls, did you clean it out properly so it will keep working? There must be no trace of lubricant whatever on the sprag, the balls, or the compartment the balls occupy: they have to be degreased carefully and dried. After cleaning the spindle bearing where the sprag runs on the crankshaft, it must have exactly one drop of high quality oil on it.

I haven't commented on what you are doing to other parts of the mower, because as you know yourself, you are not fixing it yet, just making it operate, sometimes by crude methods.