OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Victa Lawn Mower Frames Victa Hammertone Paint Drama, Early 80s Model.

Hey MF,

Alas, still not a sure thing, as any retro nerd that uses/repairs old plastic from that era will attest. I have ripped many a label off old computers, etc, and the effect is still there. Only looking at old photographs showed what the true colour was. Even computers that were taken out of sealed boxes still had the same issue, only lesser, due to the fire retardant they used in those plastics back then.

That being said, I am certainly not a colour nazi, so by all means, paint it whatever colour you choose. I have seen some doozy fights amongst people over what the 'proper' colour was of something, and it ain't pretty!

Not like that gold paint job you have there mate.

Oh that new knowledge on old plastics and their properties over time has got my mind bending.

I did have a plan B called Rustoleum rustic white which is lighter, satin and goes on plastic with no primer required.

You have both had an influence on my thoughts on this.

MF,

Speaking of paints, I saw a spraycan of 'High Heat' paint the other day in Bunnings, and one of the uses on it was for spraying motors. And after picking up the old Mustang (of which I will add to my old thread when I finish the diagnostics on it. Quite a list so far) I was wondering whether to scrape off most of the rust from Mufflers (the Tornados muffler has also started rusting) and hit them with some of this paint.

Just wondered if this is what you are hitting your muffler with?

Hey Sapper,

I was pondering that last night and while I don't mind the rusted look since that's it's natural state, I wouldn't mind painting it up since I have it apart. Prep may be tricky though. How long would it last and how thoroughly would I need to scrape away the scale?

I did intend to use it so maybe I shouldn't to all out on this or I won't want to. It's really a refurbishment, not a restoration.

Hey MF,

I only thought of it because even power torque mufflers are at least $20 to $30 used, let along full crank mufflers, so for the cost of a $12 can of spray paint, I thought I might get a few more years out of them, it will be worth the effort. You don't have to removed all of the rust, just give it a good wire brushing and then a brief sanding to get rid of any last scale and then hit it. Oil based and lacquers don't breath like water based paint, so the rust is starved of oxygen and water, which it requires to do its thing. Not saying it will last forever, but hey...

I know you can get hold of mufflers off dead mowers, but those will eventually dry up with no more being manufactured.

You make a very valid point on the practical aspect of painting them up with your cost vs benefit aspect!

I should do them all!!

Thanks!!!

Here's the front axle I just painted quickly with some cheap silver rattle can paint. It's called "aluminium". I didn't bother applying primer. I just quickly rubbed it down with medium steel wool and wiped with metho.

I took it off a spare chassis as it's in good condition.
The original is rusty all over and has a loose wobbly axle stub.

PS: just ordered a set of brand new axle bushes -this is becoming a restoration.

I'm thinking of getting a 4 liter can of Hammertone paint and I'm wondering how long it takes for this to harden up properly. I have used it previously brush painting my pool fence but I never really took too much notice as to how long it took to dry. I will spray these bases any thoughts?

When I used Rustoleum hammertone paint, I waited a good 4 days before I tried doing anything with it, and that was during the height of summer.

Bonnar_ Bloke advised to wait weeks before fit out with the UltraColor gold hammertone can I used on the base as it can still be soft underneath when the paint feels hard and fully cured on the surface. He mentioned that the wood grain on the bench impressed on his work after resting on it after he thought it had dried thoroughly. May not apply to other brands.

This is one example where it pays to procrastinate on reassembly of the mower!!

I guess it is not going to happen because at my age I don't have enough time to procrastinate

Hair dryer it is then NormK.

I guess I'm not going to give them a lot of coats my aim is to just sand all the rust off and give it a lick of colour just to freshen them up. I have been doing this all along using a Rustnot spray can but the place I was getting these from has closed up. It was good paint because it was petrol resistant and it covered well. I guess if I repair 10 bases I can line them up and paint them all at once and then they can sit around for a while before I need to use them

Hi all,

Generally Hammertone paints are applied far thicker to obtain a good gloss finish and were used to pretty up rough casting finishes without much surface rework prior to painting, thus it was used on workshop machinery items where components were made of cast iron etc. like lathes and drill presses. Lawnmowers that were made of cast alloy were prime candidates for this type of paint, thus why it was used on so many early Victa bases around the VC-125 ~ 160 timeline and Scott Bonnar where there was quite a bit of external welding that was visible and looked much better when basically bogged up with a thick coating of glossy paint.

Generally a high temp baking oven is used to cure out as much as possible but remember there is a silicon content within and this will keep the paint somewhat soft for quite some time after the curing process has long been completed.

Cheers,
BB.

I remember the old AEC buses I used to sometimes catch to school had lashings of gold hammertone paint around the drivers area and just under the windows from memory.
The bodywork was built by the bus company itself so they must have seen the benefits of it!

I have found some Hammertone at Pompies Marine they claim it is touch dry in 10 mins and dry enough to handle in 20 mins. I will get a tin of it on Monday and see how it goes.

That's sounds somewhat different Norm. I'm sure some of us here will have a great deal of interest in the results.

Cheers,
BB.

Hi BB,
it is obviously thinners based, I'm not expecting a fantastic hammertone finish but for $44 for 4 litres I can't go wrong. I will line up a heap of bases I can repair today and spray them all at once.

They have a good range of colours as well,

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Hammer-Finish-Paint-4ltrs/123023486877

They should look very nice NormK. Show us pics when they're done.

MF,
never thought I would say this but the Talon bases are much better quality than those rubbish Victa Tornado bases. Biggest problem with the Tornado bases is that when the motor fails the mower gets pushed up the corner of the backyard under a tree for years before they finally get dumped

Isn't just about anything better than a Tornado base though?
Those Talon bases aren't bad at all by the looks of things, same with Gardeners Choice. I really hope you can find a viable way to fit LS Powertorque motors to them.

MF,
I am fitting short shaft motors to these because I don't have any long shaft ones here at the moment, at least running ones. To get the blade height I have had to press the center of the standard PT oval plate up 20 mm. Bit of a pain but best way out of the problem with these bases. Only other thing I have had to do is drill the 4th hole for the PT motor and move the height adjuster spring to the other side which also required a 3/16 th hole drilled in the base

Norm could you show us what you did to the blade carrier with some pics when you've got time?

What a shame Sapper doesn't live near you as he seems to get long shaft PTs whether he needs them or not!

Aha,

That's a way to do that I suppose. How do you support the blade disc in the press? No worries with distortion, buckling etc? Usually a bent blade disc is very obvious. Perhaps I could fit PTs or FCs to some of the many Rover bases I have or can get easily? I have plenty of good Rover catchers but have started to dump the bases. I can tell you nothing else works to solve that problem
I have tried everything.

Jeff

Hi Jeff,
it is doable, but there is a number of hurdles to overcome. First is the height adjuster bar would need to be stepped out to go around the head. The second is the which Rover you are talking about, the alloy bases have step ups for the Briggs motor to sit on and the re- drilling of these could be a problem. I haven't really looked into it once I saw the initial problems. The blade carrier pressed out easily, just closed the hole up about .5mm which was easily cleaned up with the die grinder

FC's might be easier. Just make up an adaptor or just cut out the centre of a worn out FC base as I have done. PT More difficult particularly on an alloy base. Stepping out the height adjuster bar does not take long.

Jeff

Front axle clear coated with Rustoleum satin and fitted on the base with new bushes.
Victa repro label looks great on this. Riveted plastic height adjust detents.

Looking good MF!

MF, I wish I had the skill, inclination and patience to paint that well. Anything I do looks like a 3 year old's art class project haha

Good job there MF