Looking at the original owner's manual, this mower was bought on the 16th of December 2002 and was given to me as a birthday present on the 28th of December. Not many teenage boys want a lawn mower for their 14th birthday, but I did!
I used this mower to launch my business mowing lawns on weekends. You can see the wear marks on the Victa lettering on the deck, made from folding the thing up and being loaded into the back of my fathers EB II Falcon GLi wagon. At one point, I was also putting it into the back of my Fairmont sedan, something I shudder to think about today.
When I left high school and was studying part time, I landed a job mowing lawns for one of the richest families in Australia. I remember being asked by the guy what lawn mower I had, I was so embarrassed to say that it was just a small push mower, expecting this to be a deal breaker. Turns out the last guy (crew) had a large rider mower that just made a mess, and that the small mower would suit them better. And so, that small, somewhat underpowered little Victa got put to work maintaining three quite properties with oversized nature strips.
This machine was retired from regular use in 2005 after ramping up my business. I needed something with more power and a wider cut to improve my efficiency. Instead of trading it, for some reason I decided to keep it as a backup. In fact, I grabbed it quite often, its light weight always came in handy.
As the years went on, it's become a sentimental keepsake, it made me a power of money and represents how driven I was at that age. No contractor would choose something so small and underpowered, but I made the most of what I had and let my work ethic and finished results speak for themselves.
The poor engine is pretty worn out though now, blowing a light haze of oil smoke. I remember the day I wounded it, the last job of a very long day, tired and wanting to just do this job and go home. The grass at this property was longer than expected, tall and thick Kikuyu is a beast to bring under control. I only had the little Victa with me that day so just pushed on with it. I pushed a bit harder than the engine could be expected to handle considering its age, laboring it too much. It was never the same again.
Considering how much work this machine has done, its been pretty reliable. Other than blades, air filters, spark plugs and oil changes, it's needed the following -
- The front deck baffle came adrift on the job. It was straightened out and re-rivetted back in place.
- A front axle circlip also disappeared mid job, I ended up using a small piece of wire to reattach the axle and get me back in action. Only in recent years did I put a proper axle clip back on, along with a set of new plastic bushings locator clips.
- Replacement carb diaphragm. I only did this last year, it was still running with the 2002 original but was stuttering as it struggled for enough fuel. I also replaced the governor springs too.
I say all that because I have just pulled the pin on a set of piston rings, a gasket kit and piston ring compressor. I know that no many would bother doing this on a basic throw-away engine, but as I said, there is sentimental value at play here.
I last did something like this when I was 12 years old, my father and I stripped and rebuilt the same 3.5 hp Briggs on the old Morrison. So, I have a basic concept for what I'm in for, but not from recent memory. For the Sprint 375, it won't be a full rebuild. I plan to remove the sump plate and cylinder head, lift out the cam out, disconnect the conrod cap and push the piston out through the cylinder. I'll then clean the piston, cylinder head and valves, clean the gasket surfaces before replacing the rings and putting it back together with new gaskets.
I have a couple of question marks though. I don't think I will need to hone the (alloy) bore. It's not like the engine has ever starved for oil, from what I can gather the oil burning is simply from wearing out those rings. Secondly, I don't think it will need a valve job, the engine runs just fine, but I would then need lapping tools and compound, probably feeler gauges. Thirdly, should I sand/machine the cylinder head to ensure flatness, or just wing it.
Anyway, this should be a nice little project to do while I'm on long service leave.
