OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Victa Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers Victa Rotomo Model 3 Tidy Up

This is how I bought this Model 3







Engine number


I started off by giving the motor a good run and apart from the bottom seal spraying some oil around all seemed to be pretty good. A degrease and Gernie were next followed by a few before pics

Green head





Motor removed from frame








I stripped down the motor and found the oil control spring behind the top ring ? Was this an effort to increase compression or just a stuff up ?

Piston and cylinder are in good nick, if I can find some rings I will hone it. If not ?





Am I right in wanting 080" rings but is that a 6 or a 9 stamped on the barrel ?

Hey Paul,

The ring is an expander to increase compression as you'd assumed, it has no relation to a 4 stroke oil ring and has a different function.

80 os is a Hard size to get, ill make some enquiries, otherwise check the ODK online store, or post your enquiry here in the wanted forum.

If you have no luck, id just get another barrel and go from there...They are still around and You should find one up your way.

The 9 has no relevance and was probably the tech or re-borers mark.

Thanks Mate,
There is a standard piston, rings and bore on Ebay at the moment and it's quite close to me so that's an option. I will check the ring gap anyway but the rings didn't have much tension when I lifted them off. It did run well though, the tapered sleeve on the bottom of the crank is very beaten up. Is it the same as the later ones on the Specials ? Now the good news



And some axles to make


I will know what's under the paint when I strip it off, underneath looks all good :-)

Yeah I saw that, was gonna grab it, but its all yours now go for it.
Cheaper than a rebore kit.

The boss is the same as special even though its a Rotomo, but its running the 3.6 Engine the same as special, and rotomo boss taper is different,So Yes.

You can still buy axles or turn them up. I do 10 sets at a time and that keeps me going at 10$ for a length of 1/2 bar.

Yes the base looks good, should come up sweet.

Magneto shouldn't set you back much either.

Colour for chassis is killrust Deep brunswick green spray can, and the cowl and tank is Galmet Avocado if your going original. Keep in mind Galmet doesn't come as a spray in this colour and is expensive, and needs to be made on request.

There are a few hammered greens in various brands might suit, or Electric blue would be nice lols.

I have a litre of Galmet Avocado green all ready to go plus the deep Brunswick Green, I have been stocking up for a while now. Easter holidays is coming up so I am hoping to paint a few bases and cowls over the break.

Your on the Ball mate

Can't wait to see your progress

Enjoy

Is there a difference between the Rotomo cylinder heads and the heads on later 125's that take the large torpedo type mufflers ?

Rotomo heads are a full dome on the external.

Special heads are square around the base with a half dome on the external.

Fin positioning and count are the same.

The later/last 125 head for utility, standard and sheerline are a totally different fin style with center plug hole. They still fit and will work with the earlier engines.

So 4 heads,
Model 1 Rotomo- Thicker fins
Model 2 2a 3, up until early 57 approx has Thinner Fins same style as 1
Model 4, Auto, 5 Special and Model 8 Standard up to Mid 60 approx. Same fin style and count as 1 and 2 but with a half external square based dome.
Model 6 9 and 8 after mid 60- approx, has centre plug hole and different fin count and style.

Yes the later head will fit an earlier rotomo as long as its 125

Something else to note, is your carby style.

Very early model 3 Rotomo could have the same carby as the Model 2 and 2a. Since your serial is quite early Id say its fitment is correct.
In addition they could also come with the Model 2a Pulley, making them the rarest and more desirable of the Model 3 Rotomo's.

Hopefully I will soon have the ring situation sorted, the crank had some sideways movement so I knew I had to have a look and I knew what I was going to find. The bottom main bearing shell stayed in the housing and it took some careful persuasion to get it out and some grinding and chiseling to remove the inner off the crank. The lower main bearing was in two bits and didn't have an outer lip on one side to retain the inner race



The bearings have been replaced before






I will have to find another lower case, not done by me

Are all the early 125cc cranks the same length etc I have some spare bottom ends but they are complete. I may use one for a spare crank and housing for this engine.

Since this isn't a First gen Roto engine, then any special engine will be fine. There are 2 lengths for Model 3 4 and 5. Stick with the short shaft and thread since its roto and doesn't need to pass through a base exhaust. You can still use that shaft if its straight. Check the new bearings and see if they are tight, if not re punch or use retaining compound on the shaft only and replace the bottom crank half. Its getting harder to get good cranks, especially for Rotomo. At least half mine have been previously punched, but I cant afford to throw any out, just because of this.

Make sure you do your small end bush, as they are always worn.

If the crank rocks excessively at TDC then change it.

The bottom case is worn out, the bearings fall in and out. I would think that the bearing shells have been spinning around for a while in there, I will replace this and reuse the crank as you suggest.

Yes for sure, this was my meaning ...It should have read, "Change the bottom CRANKCASE half,.... My bad

Beggars cant be choosers, but If you can, try and find option code 3 on the lower case.

Also, since the bearings were so badly damaged they may have worn the upper and lower crankcase bearing surfaces.

Once its set, do a dummy fit and see if there is any play between the crank and casing (vertical play), if so shim the upper half accordingly.
This will also aid slightly with any remaining lateral play,left from the bearing damage.

Ok, the top bearing is very good I am sure it is a newer bearing and the housing is good. It also has a newer type black seal fitted I think the bottom ones were in the too hard basket for someone as the original metal type seal was in place and that main bearing was old as.

Yes, since that lower case was stamped 0 and not original for this model, id say they just pulled it off another engine and threw it on to get it going. Anyway another bottom will sort it all out then.

I have been busy getting my recent buys running and getting the shed in order, can't work in a mess now. I found another lower case and it is stamped 3



I have the bearings ready to fit and Sqizzy has sent me up a new 080" piston and ring set which should arrive soon. Looking forward to getting the engine back together, on a side note I have two fuel taps and they have different markings. Is it just a supplier thing or are they from different models ? One is marked cc and the other kl



Thanks for everyone's help

Victa's look good in black n white

Good find with the casing.

CC is the correct manufacturers mark for your Roto.

This style CC tap covers most Model 4 standards, Most 3's and Model 5 Series 1-2.

Early versions of Roto 3 had the cigar, since they intersected with The last Automatics, but your Serial would indicate the CC tap is correct for yours.

KL was fitted to Series 3 and dep store models,(with the possibility of late Model 5 series 2).

Im unclear why the brand change, since CC continued to make most of Victas other castings ( mags carbs pulleys etc). until at least the end of the Sheerline series.

While I love B&W images in many categories, IMO, I find it detracts from the Mowers detail and character.

I wonder if you might do me a favour and measure the height of your base mounts for the Axle brackets on the Model 3 please. Also if they are smooth or have the checked pattern in the metal.

Cheers.

Thanks for the info on the taps, I will measure the base mounts for you no problem. Below is the same pic but in color



Need to change the choke on this one