OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Identification of Particular Machines Newby with New Toys

Howdy once again

Today I'm going to have a go at pulling the cowl apart and cleaning out the fuel tanks - Ive already noticed Ol Blue's fuel tank s terribly rusty inside.

I know cleaning out rusty old fuel tanks is a contentious issue, and at the risk of opening a can of worms, I'd like to hear your thought on it.

I normally go overboard:

1: Quarter fill with petrol and a hadfull of nuts and bolts and shake like crap for 5 -10 minutes (loosens all the loose flakey surface rust)

2: Flush it out really well with petrol/water/high pressure water

3: Mix up a brew of Water and Molasses at about 10 water to 2 molasses and fill the tank.
4: Let it sit for about 3 or 4 days, longer depending on how badly rusted it was
5: Drain and flush really well
6: If its a really important tank - restore with POR15 Fuel Tank sealing kit.

I think one lot of POR15 will do all three tanks, plus a little Honda X75 fuel tank that I am also restoring at the moment.


What do you guys do??


Gordon

I sandblast and lead line generally. Your method is very popular,although the tank liner is not an option that many use but its very effective. I used it on rare tanks especially motorcycle tanks years back with great results.

Alluminium/diflouric acid or the POR15 equivalent, (cant remember the name)works ok and is sublte but it needs to coat the whole tank all at once to make it an easier quicker job ...

But your method is pretty much how many do theirs and is quite effective in most cases.

If the tanks are too bad,just get another one,there are quite a few around and they dont cost much....less than the time it takes to clean in some cases

Where do these gaskets go??

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/victa-18...ories&hash=item3a82d09a0e&_uhb=1

They call them Victa 18 Post Gaskets.

If I get three sets of these.....

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LAWN-MOW...ories&hash=item2a2d887498&_uhb=1

will that cover pretty much everything I want for the restore (gasket wise that is)??

I guess I could always wait to purchase them once I have got some kind of an idea what I'm doing but it seems like a reasonable deal.

Waddya reckon??


Polybus

Lols,Unfortunately 50s again" has trouble with his spelling. They are "Port" cover gaskets and go on the engine.

The kit is pretty much all you need,although it does not cover the Base exhaust Gasket or the engine seals.

Btw if your unaware "OutdoorKing" is first and foremost a mower parts site. If you like,clink the parts online link up the top left corner and this will take you to the parts shop and most of the parts your looking for...

You will need the gasket kit youve shown,base exhaust gasket,engine seals top+bottom and bearings if required. New piston and rings kits also. Im not fully aware of whats available here,but if youve got any enquiries or get stuck im sure you can contact the site owner BRUCE and he may be able to tell you if its all in stock...Anyways just another option besides Ebay for your parts:)

Personally id get a want list of everything new you need, Ie gaskets,piston, rings, seals whatever,and do a bulk order and possibly even raise a slight discount with the seller you choose?....afterall you got 3 mowers.

I'm having a bugga of a time getting the nut that holds on the blade holder on all of the three mowers

I've tried heating, penetrating oil, impact driver, all with no luck - I think the real issue is I can't really secure the shaf in place to give me something to turn against - I'v e got an old oil filter wrench here somewhere - I'll give that a try....

Any other suggestions?


Polybus

Rattle gun! Put on a thick glove,hold the bladeplate tightly and rattle it off...
If you dont have a rattle gun,take all 3 mowers to your local mechanic and get him to take them off for you,should only take a few minutes....:)

If not,remove one of the blades and replace it with a long bolt. make sure its a good fit in the hole then Do it up tightly with the thread length facing out. lie the mower on its side,place a block of wood under the protruding bolt end and a firm surface(concrete slab ),with a breaker bar apply pressure to the nut until the bolt in the base plate is safe and firm against the wood...Maybee get a mate to hold the mower while you undo the nut.
Works almost every time.

Once they are off youll probably need to get the bosses off as well,your heat will come in handy for that job...

Right - just bought myself a Rattle Gun - I'll teach those little bastards a lesson they'll never forget!!

(I'm sure this will end in tears)

Polybus

You need to use some judgement with a rattle gun Polybus, but it isn't anything complicated. Just remember a few simple points:
- if it is pneumatic, oil the rattle gun before you start;
- oil the accessible part of the thread before you start;
- be careful to set the rattle gun's direction of rotation for forward (tighten) or reverse (loosen) before you start, rather than leave it on whatever it is set for and just go for it;
- set the torque control at a level that is not capable of damaging the parts;
- do not try to use a large rattle gun for small jobs - it is both too clumsy physically, and insufficiently sensitive in torque control;
- never try to start a nut on a thread with a rattle gun - you'll cross-thread it fairly often.

Those six points all sound obvious, but unless you deliberately form work habits, sooner or later you'll forget one or more of them. There is also a temptation to misuse a rattle gun for assembly work. You must have the parts properly assembled and bedded into place before you apply the gun: it is a blunt instrument, unlike your hand, and it won't notice if, for example, a dowel hasn't entered its socket. The results of misassembly will be quite ugly.

Thanks for the tips

I've never used a rattle gun before, so I will follow your advice and hopefully break less things than I normally do

Polybus

+1 to all grumpy says. They can be an implement of destruction, when wrongly used.

In addition, I'd like to say that in general, it's not a good idea to use a rattle gun for doing up fasteners. Getting stubborn ones undone is their best use, in repair and maintenance.

There are rare exceptions, like running the nuts up Victa full crank 2-stroke crankcase studs [which is a very slow job to do with a hand ratchet], but not that many.

Yes, production lines use them to run up and final tighten. But the rattle guns used there are hardware torque limited, for the specific fastener type and position on the assembly.

Some years back, a mob called 'Pete's Bargains' in Ringwood, Vic had a lot of ex-Nissan production rattle guns for sale, after Nissan closed down their Oz assembly plant. They were very cheap, but not very useful for general workshop use, due to the fixed torque limiters.

Repco's house brand pneumatic gear was decent quality then, and I could wangle their top trade discount, so I bought a few of those instead.

Latest update:

- Hardened sockets arrived 4 days ago
- Rattle Gun arrived today
- All three mower blade holder retaining nuts have been soaking in penetrating oil for about 2 weeks now

All three mowers have been sitting almost untouched since my last post - only real action is that all three petrol tanks have been soaking in molasses for about 3 weeks now and look like they're coming up quite well.

So....despite the danger of giving me a power tool - I attacked the nut that holds on the the blade holder.

Just to see if the penetrating oil has made any difference I first attacked them with a socket and breaker bar - still not budging - so it was down to the new toy (rattle gun)

For those of you who are reading this to laugh yourselves silly at me breaking the mowers - SHAME!!!

Attached the socket to the rattle gun - plugged in the rattle gun (it's electric - 240v - to be honest - I've never seen or heard of an electric one before) - put the mower up on the bench - hold blade holder with left hand, rattle gun with right hand - pull trigger......

Almighty noise for 2 or 3 seconds......

Panic!! Release trigger!!!

Take off rattle gun - WTF??!?!? What happened?

Before I really knew what was going on, the mower fell over, the blade holder fell off and after 20 seconds of searching I found the blade holder retaining nut in the socket!!

How easy was that!?!?

Now with the benefit of experience I did the other two as well - how simple was that - no problems, no worries - nuts came off as easy as pie with the rattle gun.....

I should have bought one of these years ago.... (but I will heed all the warnings about doing things up with it - I will only undo - I like doing things up with my manual torque wrench anyway.

I really can't get over how easy it was - and I didn't break anything - and thats gotta be a plus

BTW: just picked up a couple of old Stationary Engines:

- JAP Model 5 (needs a cowl if anyone has any leads)
- Lister A Junior - with hopper - (needs a magneto)
- Villiers Model 12 (Aussie Made) x 2
- Villers Model 12 High Speed
- Villers Model 10 - (needs petrol tank...)

BTW: Advice.....now that my Victa 18s have een identified - should continue this thread in the Restoration section??

Polybus

Hi Polybus, yes, mate, start a new thread in Restoring, Customising and Modifying > Victa Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers.
I will then close the old thread.