OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Victa Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers VC-125 Mark I & II Restoration

OK time to show you all a little of what I have been doing while not on here.Progression has been slow due to not being overly well.
First the:
Mark I

...and Mark II.










Just pardon the junk behind in this picture.

Wow!

Absolutely stunning work Blumbly!! Can't wait to see more, thanks for the great pics


Michael

Thanks rolla16v it maybe a lot of work but to sit back at the end is a feeling of great accomplishment.I do have just one small problem with the Mark II's cylinder head.Which is why it's not on the engine,I just can't get it clean enough.It came of another mower one that had been sitting outside in the whether for many many years.Which is why the engine was seized solid.The only savable part was the head but I just can't get it to look the way I want it to.I'm starting to run out of ideas on how to achieve my goal with it.

Wow, those heads are looking great, and that is an awesome match on the handlebar colour, and colour overall, I know colour has been a tricky one for you too, with few people restoring the series 70 range, those of us with a passion for it are pioneering a group as yet seldom worked on.

Absolutely beautiful, I'm excited to see the next stage of these restorations!!!

Like usual your attention to detail is bl**dy outstanding.

Keep the photo's coming.

Would it be appropriate to ask how you polish your stuff like the G3 carby? It looks better than brand new.

Thanks Ty it's all about finding the right paint shop.Also you should check my post on VC-160 Mark I,II & IIIB Restoration.I decided to redo the cutting discs in the correct colour.
Thanks Jaffa J,I do pride myself on making sure it looks close to how it did when they were brand new.I'm just a little stuck on zinc plating at the moment as the back plate that helps hold the catcher up off the axle and the axles were all zinc plated.I have done some research and believe I can do it,but I just don't know where to purchase the blocks of zinc needed to it.
As far as polishing goes.First (naturally)I degrease whatever part I'm doing.I then get those steel wire wheels that have the brass coated wire.I put them into my bench drill (Low speed)and shine them up (not hard or fast as that could damage aluminium parts).Then I use metal polish.I have found Auto-sol to be the best.Then as you know the part will tarnish over time so I then put a clear coat of paint over them so it will look better for longer.Process done,hope this helps.

What did you do in the end with the heads, I recall you having trouble cleaning them well, but it looks like you have worked out a trick for it judging by your results!

Also, the front to rear axle linking bar (that passes between the cylinder and the baseplate) I've never observed this as being painted before, was that original? Is it model specific?

Again to get the heads looking good just a lot of hard and long hours.Scrubbing cleaning and polishing.No secret trick here.I wish there was cause it does take a very long time to get a head looking near new.In fact one of them I just can't get it to where I'm happy with it and I just don't have another head to use,so I guess I'm just stuck on that one.

The discussion about blade disc colours for VC-160's and VC-125's, which took this thread off topic, and away from focus on Blumbly's amazing VC Restorations, has been moved into it's own space, and can be found HERE.

Back to the discussion, perhaps you could start a new thread asking peoples input on head cleaning for restoration purposes?

I have done that in the past but their really isn't any easy to do it other than the way I'm doing it. I just can't get it right,it's close but it just can't pass my satisfaction test. I just don't have another head to play around with,as this was the worse one I've tried to restore all the rest can and have passed my test. I'm think that I made need to find another head somewhere.

It's true, I recall a number of long chats out on your veranda about this, they always ended the same, no answers, giving up, and trying to see if Abby would do it!

That's right and now Abby is no longer with us and Buddy & Shari. Yeah right they certainly won't do it. So I decided that I would find the way and it turns out elbow grease is the way.

Sorry Ty I forgot to answer this the other day. Yes the height adjuster linkage were painted as far as I know only on the VC-125's. Also the handle lock parts on the base were also painted the same colour,and yes they were originally painted that way. On the 125's these parts were not zinc coated,unlike the 160's which were zinc coated.

There you go, it certainly makes sense, Zinc plating cost more, and at the time Victa wanted to offer a cheaper mower, without taking away from the main design features of the VC-160, such as the catcher size, decompression based Zip start system, G3 carby, dual fold handles and hi-arch chute.

Wow, only a small detail, but very important, and when it comes to VC's, I do love to learn new things!!

Well that's where my job as a restorer gets harder in keeping the attention to detail.Like look at the latch assembly,spring clip latch and the rivet. I've kept them all the original colours.That wasn't the easiest to do,but I did it.

Wow these restorations were put on hold due to the fact that when I was putting the Mark II together I realized I was putting on the wrong handles.
So they were put on hold to find the right Mark II handles.I can't believe that was well over twelve months ago.Where does the time go?
Well I have had some success this week on finding a VC-125 Mark II.
Pictured below,




It was purchased from a very nice young man who was happy to help.
So now I can take the parts off I need and finally finish my resotoration of the Mark I and Mark II.
Unfortunately this mower will be parts only sad I know but at least some of it will end up on a restored mower.

Hello Blumbly!

Absolutely incredible!

Questions:
Is there any difference in the bases (just the base)?
Would you have a photo of the VC125 Mk2 crankcase numbers?

Cheers.
---------------------
JACK.

Jack good question there.There is a few changes to the bases,but they are very minimal.
One of which the casting on the Mark II is a lot better than on the Mark I.Like around the the Victa logo on the Mark II there are no cast lines also around the handle for the rear flap as well as a few other places(more listed below).The Mark I's had these cast marks.Also I'm not sure if this is how they were,but from my observation the Mark I's had a (I) cast into the base where the engine mounts.Marked below in red.Where as the Mark II's (From what I have seen so far) had a (2 or 3) cast into them.
The blue lines are the cast marks I was talking about.

The only other change is the Mark II had extra holes put into the side for the new style height adjuster which was the plastic type.
Mark I

Mark II

Other than that there really isn't anything else I can see or have found that is different.
I haven't taken any pictures of the Mark II's crankcase but it is the same as the Mark I's number except as the model number is different it reads 76720 then the serial number.