OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Victa Lawn Mower Frames Victa VC160 Auto Drive V109

Hi Alan a very nice find you have there.Yes this model is getting very hard to find even here in their birth place.
This means that it is in fact from 1972 the 20 at the front is the model code and the 72 is for 1972 the rest is just a serial number.So the good news is that is the original engine.
Here is a few pictures of one of mine.


This is the screw for changing oil.

I noticed that Bruce put a picture up of a catcher as you were talking about cracks in yours.I'm sure you realized that the catcher that was pictured won't fit the auto drive due to it doesn't have the cut out section for the diff.
It is intersting to see all the different decals that Victa put on the catcher flaps.My second auto drive has this decal on it's flap.

It's funny how nobody knows what Victa 25cc oil is.
Here is a few pictures of my 2nd auto drive.



Unfortunately the cowl on this one has a hole and a crack from the hole,and it at some point has had it's diff and all it's auto drive parts removed.So I call it an auto push now.I'm going to put a diff etc back on it but at the moment the only part I don't have is the lever handle so it will just have to wait until I can find another one.
I hope you do decide to restore it,it would be good to see.I'm going to restore at least one of mine.I just have a few to do before it's turn is up.
Any questions feel free to ask and I will do my best to give you the answers you need.

maxwestern you are 100% correct.Allan these other catchers you are bring shown will not fit you mower.You will need the model 27 as max has shown.
Like this catcher here.

G'day all,
Actually, we now do - Alan has made a welcome contribution to the ODK knowledge base, via one of his pics.
Many thanks for that, Alan.

As mentioned in one of my earlier posts in this thread, the viscosity is SAE 10 grade. And this is easy to get from motorcycle shops, as 'SAE 10W Fork Oil'; it's usually in 500mL bottles, too, which is handy.

The warning I give about avoiding 'EP' rated oils, is because most EP additives are of sulphur based chemistry, and these will chemically attack 'yellow metal' [i.e. the brasses and bronzes] components, such as bushings and worm gear wheels. And there do exist Fork Oils which claim to be of 'EP' rating.

That doesn't necessarily mean it's the same oil.Alans was for export to a colder climate.Which is most likely why the decal was different,the oil would have to be a different viscosity to here.I'm certainly not sold on that's it's the correct oil.I have plenty and still have plenty of VC-Auto Drives and not one has got that sort of oil on there dacals.So I'm not sold and won't be putting engine oil in any of mine without further research.So really that doesn't prove it is Victa 25cc oil is.SAE 10 is just engine oil I'm sure here in Australia the oil would need to be thicker than engine oil.We get a lot hotter here then the UK.

That Wally on Gumtree has sprayed that green catcher with clear and not oiled it at all. How silly some people can be. All that's going to happen now is that the clear will fall off rather quickly due to bad adhesion.

Blumbly and folks,

Yes, of course we do have hotter ambient temperatures than the UK. And while this considerably affects engine operating temperatures, it has very little effect on those of gearboxes!

Another consideration is that the critical component, with respect to the correct oil viscosity requirement, in this model of Auto-Drive gearbox, is not the gearset. It's the multi-plate wet clutch assembly.

As it happens, I am very familiar with this type of clutch and its workings; most Japanese-made motorcycles use this type, and have done for decades.
BTW, I have the official Victa-endorsed Service & Repair Manual which covers this model, open in front of me as I type these words. That's Gregory's #424, p. 123-125, to be precise.

I would say that the reason that only the export Auto-Drives were actually marked with the oil viscosity grade, is that Victa dealers in the destination countries were very likely to be much further apart in distance, than they were in Oz at that time.

And Victa wanted to ensure that a critical maintenance procedure, i.e. regular gearbox oil changes, would not get deferred/neglected due to difficulties in obtaining Victa-branded oil.

This service item is flagged as essential in the S&R Manual...

I think BB it was done to make it look more impressive that and really is.I guess for someone who doesn't know this would work,but we know better.

I can't get over you doubting people, the add says in immaculate perfect condition

we're all doubting Thomas's around here Norm that's for sure.

As I always say it's hard to polish a turd and turn it into gold.

Also that's why you always find twits who sell cars with buggered paint wet them before taking photos. Gives the same effect and makes them look like con artists in the end.

I've seen that done with mowers on Ebay as well. A VC Auto drive was one of them.

Yes your right it does say that.I don't know maybe it is in perfect condition.They could have cleaned the inside though.

Thanks Blumbly, It was when I saw the pictures of your auto drive on here a few years ago I thought to myself that if I was going to do a restore it was going to be that model (if I could find one). For the time being I suppose all I can do now is give it a good clean up as I don't think I am going to come across the original throttle lever, cowl, badge, or replacement catcher any time soon. In fact im not even sure if I will ever find a few of them here, especially the cowl, so if anyone on here has one for sale I would be particularly interested, even though I know the shipping is going to cost me a small fortune..!!

Quick question, when repainting parts that have decals do you guys mask over them or replace them with reproductions? I think I might have to mask over the ones on the flap (as tatty as they are) as I guess they will be real difficult to find again, even as reproductions. Do you think I should keep these decals in particular?

This really is a great forum. Thanks again everyone for all the help and advise you have given me, I could have easily put the wrong oil in the gearbox for a start!! I must admit I was that blown away with the condition of that catcher I overlooked the fact that it was the wrong one..!!

Yes Alan you need to find some way to save the decals.Either by masking up or removing.The easiest way I have found to remove them is by electrolysis as that destroys the paint underneath and the decal just falls off all in tacked and one piece and by using electrolysis you remove all the rust and have clean metal to start your work.Then after painting you could glue them back on.You won't find any new decals as yours seem to be a lot different to any auto drives I've found out here.Also (Don't know how fussy you are,I know I am)but these decals were originally done with a foil backing,and nobody does decals with foil backing.As the cost alone is just far to expensive.As for painting you cowl it shouldn't be that hard as they are made of some kind of fiber not plastic,(the later model auto drives were plastic but not this model)you should be able to (after removing the black paint) just rub it back with about 400 grit wet and dry sandpaper (with some soapy water) then just blow you colour over that.
As I did with my VC-160's and I think they turned out better than new.I know their not auto drives but the cowls are made of the same materiel.They were just clear coated.See below.

Invaluable info on the gearbox Gadge, Thanks..!!

The guy that I bought this mower from said he had owned it for the last 12 years but looking at the condition of that grub screw I would doubt very much that he changed the oil within that time.

As this is such important maintenance do you think that some damage will have occurred to the clutch plates? I suppose all I can do when I get the oil is change it and give it a try.

What a great job you have done there, They look superb..!!

It did cross my mind to repaint mine, I hoped it had just been painted black but unfortunately the cowl I have is a plastic replacement. At some stage someone has also drilled a hole in the top of it (that has cracks around it) to fit a stop switch. I suppose there may be a way to repair it (I may have to) but getting that lime green colour right would be a challenge especially in a plastic paint formula.



Wow, sounds interesting.. I've got some learning to do.!! What equipment would I need to do this?

Well yes it would be as being plastic you have to use a plastic primer.It still would work.I'm just not sure how you could get the colour match right without having one to go off.
Thanks it was a lot of work that went into them but also a lot of fun doing them.

Hi Blumbly,

Are replacement "Series 70 Mk II" decals available at all as they would be rather straight forward ?

Cheers,
BB.

Blumbly, I could be wrong but the way I read the label on your mower is "Use only 25cc of Victa gearbox oil part no 27-050" I believe the "25cc" part is the measure (cubic centilitres) which is equivalent to 25 ml?

http://www.convertunits.com/from/cc/to/ml

Hi Alan,

Well you got in first as that's exactly what I was thinking as well. 25cc is not a grade rather a volume.

Cheers,
BB.

G'day Alan,
Yep, that's exactly what I'd do. Find out if it's broke, before attempting to fix it!

If it hasn't done a lot of hours, it should be fine; and at least you know that nobody has put the wrong oil in it!