At least in our climate I think more advanced corrosion tends to happen when the mower has been allowed to get wet either through being left in weather or inappropriate washing particularly in seaside conditions. In any case, it seems that the more exposed damaged mowers have the steel “cast in” sleeve bond to the shaft when there’s been a solution to promote corrosion.
I had a ‘75 Victa I rescued from a beachside place where the centre tore out. That machine was perhaps the most corroded alloy-based Victa I’ve come across.
For what is worth the straight finned flywheel takes noticeably more power to spin than the curved one. It also pushes a lot more air. We noticed this when racing Kirby KAV87's etc. on karts, they used the same flywheels. For racing we preferred the steel centred ones as they were more durable when being "punished"
Love the Pope, keep up the good work!
Regards,
FG
"Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten"
4 weeks , sprayed WD40 penetrant. Setup ford puller, heat, bit of pressure on the centre screw................ one almighty crack and it came apart, I wasn't even touching it. Points were set to 48 th", so faced them with sandpaper and set to 20th". nice big blue spark..... not bad for about 57 years old Cleaned them up, put flywheel on, head on and cleaned carb, made a gasket..... I'd like to decoke rings and grooves, but they look clean. don't want to risk breaking a ring, but it looks like Victa 125cc rings would fit. A victa piston fits, but could not use because of the domed top.
I put one of those starter cups on, so I could start it with a rope......You don't have and springs to bugger up....... ha ha speedy
........................Keep your blades sharp......................
I just want to see if the motor runs, so I put it on a Victa base.Doubled the spacers. Had to drill one hole. It has four bolts. I wonder if those spacers and 4 bolts will be strong enough. It's a 125cc engine.
I have to make a muffler. I'll try to fit a B&S one I have. Do you think it would start without a muffler..... maybe a long pipe just to test it....... speedy
........................Keep your blades sharp......................
I got the B&S mufler welded and the Victa disk welded to the Pope flat boss. test run today. It kicked over and ran well. Let it warm up as probably had not for 20 years.... It blew some smoke. and the Zenith carb worked. The butterfly changed the revs like it should. I messed up the camera so only got a short video.
I noticed the fuel line disconnected, and the disk nut loosened.... Fixed those and try again. I ran but something is wrong. I think carburation, spark and maybe exhaust backpressure........
I can check points, put Victa carb on, and put a tin can over mufffler to make more pressure..... Anyway here's the test run https://youtube.com/shorts/DVn8ioLeKYU
speedy
........................Keep your blades sharp......................
Tightened the blade disk, and took flywheel off to test spark......... spark plug nearly fell out.... stupid...... It ran ok, but a bit rough. I suspect the 4 stroke muffler is giving the wrong pressure to the engine...... Don't know much about that, but i know 2 stroke motorbikes can be really affected by the muffler.......
speedy
........................Keep your blades sharp......................
Test 6 with Victa LM carb...... Nothing else would fit. Still a problem, throttle movement didn't affect revs... Just wanted to see if it would work....... I want to get the Zenith going.......
cheers speedy
........................Keep your blades sharp......................
I soaked the Zenith Carb, made in Australia for 3 days on CLR... it didn't dissolve away.... Poked a wire down all holes and blew them out. The float had tobe resoldered, what a job for newbies........ Anyway bingo. it runs.....
I put a snorkel on the carb ,just to keep the dust out of the carb. It starts easily with the drill. Mowed the whole lawn, and the Zenith carb performed well. I may need a air filter to restrict the air flow.... And gotta fix a fuel tank, instead of gaffa tape..... Anyway happy to step back 60 years........ speedy
........................Keep your blades sharp......................
