OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Off Topics Victa Customization!

I have been trying to find ways to customize Victa mowers to make them look cooler.
I know hot rod mowers aren't the most popular but I recon they will become popular.

My favorite Victa's to customize are Victa Utilities.

Victa Utilities are cheaper then the earlier Victa's and since there made from steel instead of alloy they are easier to work with. This means you can do some crazy mods to them!

But a simple mod that I recon works well if to remove the rear safety flap. It may make it a bit more dangerous, but it makes the base look more circle and more like a Victa from the early 1950s.


These are on both early and late Utilities from the early 1960s- the late 1970s.
Later Utilities from about 1969- the late 1970s use flaps on the front and side, the mower does not look right with out these so if you want to rat rod, hot rod, or restore then you will need these flaps.
Utilities from around 1975 and after use a plastic cover, these don't look too bad but they look much better on mowers like the Twin, Supreme or Lightweight.


A trick for restored Victa Automatics is to paint the lines on the front flap red, it makes the flap not look as plain and makes the mower look a bit more detailed. I don't have an Automatic to do this with sadly, not that rich lol.


You can do the same with the lines on top of the Victa Recoil starter.

The last trick I learnt about today when trying to sell this exhaust.
It is from a Scott bonnar Model 35 but I was asked to measure it on a Victa exhaust port by 2 people. Perfect fit!
It doesn't look any worst, doesn't look any better, but thats my opinion. Some people might like it more, some might not. Different though.



What tricks do you guys have up your sleeves?

I picked up a cast aluminium scoop to fit a 4 barrel for my car many years ago. I still have it polished up and have thought many times it would look flash if used as a cowl. You could even leave the pull starter inside the opening.

It would be easy to cut some stainless, brass or copper discs and use them as "moon discs" I have thought if I still worked in a proper setup workshop I could make my own simple polished stainless mag wheels. I would only need to roll a piece of tube to fit inside of the standard tyre then two rings to work as a rim bead and the centre could be a disc with 5 or 6 round holes, perhaps kidney shapes.

I reckon the axles could be sleeved with perhaps copper tube as it's easy to get or remade with the copper coated steel god used for earthing houses so you'd get the polished shiny look and the strength of steel.

An alloy base could be polished

Heck, if you weren't shy on cash and so inclines you could even chrome a steel base.

Slash you just reminded me of heaps then haha!

My dad got drunk at the Caboolture Swap Meet and I found this lol




You wouldn't believe it, me and my dad got an old wheely fridge out of his scrap pile today so we could get the stainless wheels of and use them as moon discs on my rat rod mower!


Another crazy idea we have thought about doing! Just need a base to do it on.


I have seen chrome handle bars for sale on my page, shiny but expensive!

I have thought about using brass pipe for a fuel line as well, would look more old school then the normal plastic.

Thanks Slash!

G'day Kye & Slash

The purist may not approve, but I encourage any creativity here.
The 'genre' of lawnmower art is an emerging one.

We have seen it here in the form of DJ's wonderful Victa coffee table,
Peetee's magic Model 45 Reel Rod, and more...

The bolder the better ... let the Rat Rotas and Rat Reels live!

-----------------------
Jack

They seem to be catching on now Jack, my Facebook page is promoting it, the orange Victa's are going through the roof now, what I use to call junk is now worth $120 in an un restored condition! People love them now.

The Pope 320-01 is becoming super popular as well, someone just traveled 1200 Kilometers to get 2 this weekend. Might become the next Victa Automatic, maybe a cowl will become a $300 part, $100 for the rope guider thingy... Wouldn't that be wonderful!

Most of the collectors only care about the rarer models being perfect now, some are still a bit spaz about it.
The other day some guy scolded a bloke because he said restored but the engine wasn't a Tiger but the mower was a Palmer. It was his dads mower and his dad had recently died, bloke didn't care though, all he cared about was swearing at him and pointing out everything wrong with it....
Oh well, people will over react.

Thanks Jack and Slash!

Hi Kye and all,

It's great work you do in promoting a shake-up of the establishment.
That the 320-01 is being recognised is great news!

As the Forum Historian, I have spent decades bringing to life 'old mowers'.
I also recognise that the resuscitation process is not a single street.

I lament the days when art played a role in manufacture of common goods.
This is a Shanks lawnmower from 1862. None survive.

Note how the style is thematic, combining nature into the castings, but
also combining the man-made geometry in the gear guard... it's a piece of art.



I feel customization personalizes a machine, and, in the modern,
homogenized world, I feel that is much needed.

I guess it's a sort of salutary joke.
I'm happy to see ODK record customization projects of all sorts.

---------------------------
Jack

p.s. For your dad: It's best these projects are executed in sobriety.
Although the inspiration may be founded after a few Queensland ales.

A member of my page has this, I think its a 1902 Ransomes.

He's a lucky guy then Kye.

One of Ransomes' most famous machines.
It's hard to think that this baby 8" was one in the Automaton
range that went up to a horse-drawn 48"!

Thanks for sharing.
--------------------------
Jack

He had to get it shipped over from Britain!
Tiny little thing.

Hi Kye and members

It is disappointing to hear that ... given that Automatons (in gear and
chain form) sold here in their thousands (my estimation). It may be
that Australia has a more 'throw-away' mentality than the UK (while
it remains as such); but I regret collectors not coming forward with
early examples of vintage mowers that were actually sold here.

Given that this post was on Victa customization, my rant was really
about customization reflecting a modern need to personalize objects. I
guess Victa would be a logical mower to customize.

I certainly do not endorse ill-considered customization - that destroys
important patina or otherwise valuable information on rare machines.
Otherwise, customization should be considered a valid and valuable art form.

Life's pretty straight without a twistie.

-------------------
Jack

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/57293/

It is disappointing, he said he considered buying one here, but the one he found for sale at the time was very expensive and was in WA (he is in NSW), in the end it would cost him about $1000, but this one from Britain which was the exact same (maybe a bit earlier) only cost him $700 including shipping.

It is very sad to see that mowers have gone from being made to look good to being that ugly thing that you hide in your shed, imagine if they made a cheaper, more practical version of the 320-01! How cool would that look.

And of cause you wouldn't customize a Billy Cart or Platypus, but simple Victa Specials and Utilities are everywhere, and usually don't have much important history, kind of like Alan's utility in the link you put just then.

Cheers Jack!

That's a great story that highlights the point mate.
It shows the difference in the markets.

Well said Kye. Form and function has been replaced by simple and cheap
function. My personal view is that good form need not cost more, but the
modern world seems to have forgotten that.

Yep, Kye, you understand the issues all too clearly.

My frustration is that Australian collectors have too narrow criteria:
- it must be a rotary;
- it must be petrol powered.

Having said that, I admire folks like Alwil, and a member on Vintage Mowers,
Mike Dockrell, who produced 'out-there' and thematic (football) rota-rods:

I got scared when I heard the EA was being turned into a cart lol! Thought they might cut up the base and put new bolts in..

Don't forget
-It must be Victa!

Its going through the roof! But luckily I have lots of support for the rare rotary revolution, Victa prices are going through the roof, but why spend $2500 on a plough base with an engine on top when you can pay $300 on a cool 1950s space style 1957 Pope 320-01!

There was alot of discussion about the victa airfilter that is now over $200 on eBay, nothing ultra special about it...

That Batman mower looks crazy haha! I have seen a few mowers painted to support different teams around the place, they all look pretty good.

Thanks Jack!

That's poetry to me, Kye ...

Folks must have more money than sense.

For me, this is an ancillary part and does not go to the essence
of a vintage mower. I would much prefer a new, quality reproduction
part on a resto. I hope 3D printing develops to the stage where these
parts will become available at sensible prices, and will be
indistinguishable from the original.

-----------------------
Jack

Be careful what you wish for Jack, Australia could become awash with Victa automatics

As long as they are sold as reproductions, I see repo fuel, oil and grease cans all the time, what scared me is they don't say repo on them. I think it should have Reproduction embossed into it somewhere, that may it can't be sold as a mint can. Same should go with mower parts.

last week they were reasonable... $50 was top dollar lol, now its cheap as!

I think I will still wait for the day I find a NOS one in the back of some guys shed and get it for $1, in the end its just a bit of plastic.

Cheers Norm and Jack!

Hi Kye, what would be really good to get made in 3D printers would be the early Victa wheels, they are the really hard part to get and new wheels dress them up nicely

There appears to be no legal requirement that reproduction parts be identified.
There are, however, passing-off laws - for those who deliberately misrepresent.
Most sellers may easily get around mis-representation of goods... and they do.

Victa 1950s plastic wheels are a classic example of exploitation.
The average mug-collector should not have to spend $200+ to complete their
restoration. As Kye says,in the end, it's just a bit of plastic.

To add salt to the wound, many non-genuine Victa parts (inc. wheels) are now
commanding prices - as though they were original Victa parts!

What I object to are the opportunist sellers (sometimes collectors) who
do nothing to support the average vintage lawnmower collector who loves
his/her collection for what it is, and not for some commodified profit purpose.

I guess this makes an appropriate (and personal) 3,000th post.

----------------------
Jack

I know the pain Norm! 5 wheels between 3 Victa's! can't find them for cheap anywhere either.

Jack I think there should be laws against not marking things as repo if there worth a certain amount. Especially with Repo enamel signs, so many repo's, so hard to tell if there original signs worth a few thousand dollars or repo's worth $100.

Repo wheels are too expensive for me too.... I see why my dep store had logs on it lol.

I do buy some mowers for the money Jack, almost all the mowers I had bought are moved on now, the Ransomes from a few weeks ago is already gone. The way I see it though, I buy the common stuff for cheap, sell it for a profit, and the money goes back into finding, buying and restoring the rarer stuff.
I want $250 for my 2a pulley, which is very high, but ones in a worse condition have gotten that on eBay and I might need it, wouldn't want to sell it for $150 then get a 2a and have to spend $250 getting the pulley I just sold. If someone will give me $250 for it then thats the money I need to get another if I do get a 2a.

Congrats on 3000 posts Jack! makes my 485 look tiny!

Thanks everyone!

Kye smart thinking and you deserve every bit of money you can scrounge out of it, you are doing the legwork getting around to all these places, scratching through rubbish and sheds and knowing what something is worth or if it is just rubbish