Hi Peter, great mower. I've been collecting and restoring old Victas for years, and I'd recommend keeping that one all original. It's a model 5, series 1 in pretty nice condition. It dates from mid 58 through to mid 59. It''s missing a few bits - a gasket that sits between the float bowl, a clear plastic splash guard that sits between the tank and fuel cap, and the rubber snorkle and choke. The snorkle changed over the life on the Model 5, and yours has a choke from a Series 3 on it currently. It should have a small black and white plastic choke. Finding the correct choke and snorkle can get expensive, but they do come up on ebay. The badge between the handlebars are also rare and valuable, but replicas are about on ebay. As for clear coat, I'd recommend against it. Just clean it up and wax it. There aren't many nice old originals left, and they are worth far more than those that have been restored. If you want to paint anything, there are a few parts that were originally cold dipped in gal which come up nice with a can of spray gal. You could also re-paint the handlebars in Wattle Rustguard Brunswick Green, but as I said, leave anything hammertoned alone. The original pull rope was also leather thong on a wooden handle, if you're wanting to be 100% accurate. Nylon bushes for the wheels can also be found on ebay, but also the diameter of the axles - they are probably worn. Most collectors machine up new ones and weld them in. Also, treat the wheels with care. They'll cost upwards of $200 to replace if you can find a set. Love your vids mate!

Hi Peter, another excellent video. When I was 3 (1983) I brought dads vita 18 into the kitchen. I was obsessed with the rope being wrapped around the wheel, I even got mums dressing gown cord and tried to use that! Anyway great mower, clear would make it look ‘fiddled with’. It’s lasted this long without it, I’m sure an old hessian bag over it will do the trick for another 60 years.

Really different looking mower nice job it’s pretty cool

That is a sweet little mower. Mother trucker had me laugh out loud ! Don't make it too glossy, just conserve, use and love as I know you will. Cheers mate !

Shes a beauty i love the sound of the victa 18's such a tough note. Thats a nice carb too alot i see are very corroded especially around the kneedle an seat. I couldn't see in the vid on my phone but i couldn't see the gasket between the carb an throttle slide cap. I still use my 18's such an icon of a mower. Happy Australia Day Peter an thanks for the great vids 😁

I find your video most informative ad I justcpicked up 2 of these old timers to restore. Thanks Brad

Louder than I thought it would be. It has a cool look to it, I like it.

Wow. Great little machine and I would leave it just like it is. The fuel tank is great.

13c - 21c.....nice days you are having there. Interesting videos!

Great little machine Peter. I've got a 1972 Victa Utility Side-throw mower that was given to me by a workmate last year which will be a rebuild (not resto) project in the near future. I love all your videos in particular the bike and mower ones.

Great work on all your videos Pete you have me thinking about restoring my old 408 gravely 4 speed ride on mower

Very retro cool video Peter, reminds me of my dad's old mover back in the day. You lawn mover whisperer you😄👍

Molasses in the tank will bring it up like new. For fuel tanks, 9 parts water to 1 part molasses .

Very nice victa. I have an Increadibly rare 20 inch Firestone mower 3.5 horse Briggs with a wind up starter, and a pulsa jet carburetor with vacuum operated auto choke! It has some lettering and paint, with some lots of rust but I'm keeping it original. Runs great and never burns oil. I had lots of flooding issues with the carb, doubling the diphrams finally did the trick!

I love the 1959 victa 18 lawn mower it is a great mower to have

Celebrate it's approaching 60th birthday with some clear coat. The wear and tear is what makes it look like a classic.

Nice job Peter.....For the wheels maybe use some 1/2 in copper pipe and a 5/8th drill and grease..works like new.

Really enjoyed this video. Great job!

I always wondered where the wheels on my late dads welder cart came from, now I know👍👍👍

Hi Peter . Nice job . The carb looks like a Villers type , sure they used them on the old Atco mower and Seagull outboard motors.

Hi Peter, watching this video nearly two years after you made it. Don't know if you went on to fix the wheel and other bits but would love to see this old mower cleaned up, not full restoration, keep the patina, and get it mowing. That would be special. Thanks for some great and entertaining viewing!

That's a right-sounding two-stroke!

Hi Peter, I cant believe how nice that sounded when you started it. I'm really sorry I wasn't able to get the plastic sign or the spanner for you. My friend has asked a some other people in the trade he knows but so far he has not been able to find them for you. We were chatting the other night and he said that about 5 years ago Victa spares prices went through the roof so people raided the older spares machines they had to keep customers mowers going. I've not even seen any on ebay over here in the UK. Once again sorry to let you down.

In the fifties most two stroke engine makers said you could run either 30 weight motor oil mixed with gas, or if it was available to stroke oil with gas. Motor oil was less expensive, so many people ran it instead of two stroke oil.

Peter, with the way it runs and how old it is, if it was mine I'd give it a thorough wash and rinse then wax it with some paraffin candle wax cut with some mineral oil and spirits. It's not surprising that it started on the second pull. The carbie was lubed up like Saturday night. Check the crankcase seals. If they are worn too much the lack of sealing will rob performance. Two-stroke engines tend to work better with the oiled sponge in place than without one. The slide throttle needs some attention. Castrol XL(noticed the ad on the tank) oil came in either 40 or 30 wt.S.A.E.. If you prefer you could use 30 wt. non-detergent oil mixed with gasoline to the proper ratio for this little beastie. Proper two-stroke mixing oils came on the scene in the 1960s. Is this 16:1, 25:1 or 32:1 fuel oil ratio?

Please do some old outboard videos too!!! Especially twin piston Johnson/Evinrude outboards from the 70's! I used to have a two stroke 55hp 1976 Johnson outboard, it fucking ripped, loved to rev. Also was very prone to flooding, not sure why.

try the air snorkle from your mayfair peter they dont seem to like the later model conveluted air intake .. and fresh fuel too !! but seems allgood so far

That's a pretty decent o-ring set. Wish I saw it, I would have bought one.

run some seafoam through it to free up the rings. Years of sitting usually makes the rings sticky

Lovely old thing, Sounds like a moped

I reckon you should just clear coat and preserve it's history. Enjoy your classic mower and I'll see ya later. Cheers.

full restoration make it look good and use some lattening agent in the paint to make it look old

years ago, in a moment of boredom i swapped a two cylinder Daihatsu van for a Go Kart, A really old one powered with aq Victa mower engine.i made a trolley and some other things out of it.only to find some time later that these were the original karts raced in OZ and people will pay actual money to own one...oops.

Am I the only one that needs subtitles? Lol sorry. Very thick accent. I can understand a lot of Australians but this is very thick

The length of the air intake matters a fair bit. I also have a workshop manual somewhere

Watch your toes eh?

Like I said in the last one Rat rod it .................clear coat the finish that is on it like it is

hey mate, just bought one for repair and dont know too much about them. In was wondering what 2 stroke mix does it take? 25:1 or 50:1?

Hi Peter....I have enjoyed your videos for some time now and I believe that they are some of the most interesting on KZfaq.....If I have any suggestion it would be that you help out your loyal American viewers.... I believe your viewership and likes will both go up if you can do two things....... Improve your audio quality... Speak more distinctly....I say this as one who has difficulty with the accent and even though I might muddle through that, the difficulty is compounded by the rapid speech pattern and sometimes low volume.......................... Thanks Peter.... Hope you accept my comments in good spirit, as they are from a friend who really enjoys your work..... I think you are a master craftsman and teacher.

Sounds like a outboard boat motor.

when My dad had one of these he said to use engine oil(not two stroke mix oil) as it says on the fuel tank.. might make a difference to how it runs?

The Victa looks like they put a lot of engineering into the height adjuster. The very cheapest mowers now just have four holes in the base so you have to spend 10 minutes to adjust the height. No good. Others have a spring bar and detent device on each wheel, which is better. Would like to see how the one on the Victa works, and whether the design was a success or just more problems. Oh yeah ... another thing mowers don't use now is a fuel cut off valve. Not even an option since many makers use a carb that is built onto the top of the tank.

Hi Peter, this is the first mower video I've seen. What is the horizontal rod/pipe on the left side of the mower going from front to rear ? Also, what is the channel on the top of the mower body going from the engine to the right (oil drain maybe) ? Clean and clear cote is my vote. Thanks, w.

I suppose these old machines ran on 5% mixture as opposed to modern 2 stroke mixture at 2%. Why is this?

Hi, what is the spark plug for the 1959 petrol victa 18 model 5 please? The same as the one is in your video. Keep up the great work. Thanks

Winning.

Full restoration peter.Dont half do things mate.

have a look at a product called PENETROL for a low sheen clear that is often used for keeping patina, its at bunnings, brush on self leveling or there is one in a spray can(not sure if this is thinned with something that will affect the enamel though) youtube clip here, there are heaps of rat rods done in it . kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jr6JraqL0LWvcWg.html

I have one pretty much exactly like that but it doesn’t have spark. How do I get the fly wheel off?

you should do old whipper snipper motors too mate

Nice result.

What model is that mower?

the engine looks vary much a j.a,p 80 engine with villers carb on it may be built there under liecents

Comment of the video..." This rope's stupid" ..lol

50% of the time it works, everytime

Good but spoilt by the blaspheming. Manners maketh man.