OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Off Topics Victa Twin Engine: What is Going On?

I know the prices of mowers and mower parts have gone absolutely crazy this year,but I just can't understand this one.A Twin engine up for sale for $349.99 as a buy it now.I don't get it you can get a hole mower or two twins for that.
Can anyone please explain why the seller is asking so much for it?
I mean if they are really were worth that much,I'd properly seriously consider selling at least two of mine.
I mean wow really?
Here are some pictures of the $349.99 engine.

I hope he gets it, then I could clean up by dismantling mine!

Over rated piece of junk, who really needs a twin pot on a "Lawnmower" anyway ???

I'm guessing you can't exactly bolt a full crank or Powertorque onto a twin base.

No it would not bolt up to a Twin base.They are made only for the Twin cylinder engines.As seen below,bottom picture is a Compact base.
Although if you wanted to put a Lightweight or Compact engine on it (Not sure why anyone would) It would fit.Would look very very strange but would fit.

Definately a negative.
Are these your current restoration projects?

Yes they are.Two 500 twins one with an original untouched (Or non updated engine) and a Compact.Unfortunately I'm in the middle of a huge clean up so it might take a little while for me to get back to them.

Is it the camera or is that colour a salmon red?
It appears to have a pink tinge to it.

I'm not 100% sure what colour it is but it was colour matched off the best example twin base that I have come across. So that would be the closest to the original colour. When you see it with the naked eye it looks more orange.

Do you know someone that can mix Mayfair gold hammertone?
I have had no luck finding a paint store that can do it. I want to paint up a late 1970s hi arch base for a 125cc model. The base has been sittng on my work bench stripped waiting for the right paint to go on it and I'm sick of seeing it!!

Wattyl Industrial make a Hammertone Gold, #90595; http://www.wattylindustrial.com.au/documents/industrial/Hammerfinish%20Card_v7.pdf

Then there's a mob in WA who do one in spray cans; https://varietypaints.com.au/collec...s/ultracolor-hammertone-spray-paint-gold
Freight from WA could be a killer on that one, though, as aerosol cans are Dangerous Goods Class 2.1.
However, Motospray auto paints sellers might be able to get this one, as that's one of this wholesaler's brands.

Then there's Rust-Oleum, who have a couple of promising products; http://www.rustoleum.com.au/product-catalog/consumer-brands/stops-rust/hammered_spray/ and http://www.rustoleum.com.au/product-catalog/consumer-brands/stops-rust/hammered_brush/

I already bought a can of the Rustoleum gold hammered and was disheartened at what a poor match it was. The WA product looks to be similar shade. Can't see the Wattle one as I can't view PDF atm.
I ordered a can of Hammerite brand gold hammered aerosol pack paint as the colour in the chart looks to be a better match but far from perfect. I am hoping it will look closer when I see a sample sprayed onto something.

The following looks to be exactly what I am looking for, only thing is they don't sell outside the EU. Even if I find someone willing to on send it to me from an EU address, I'm sure they can't lawfully send a paint product over here , even though it is not a pressure pack.
https://www.vernicispray.co.uk/221233EN/hammertone-paint-yellow-hammered.jsp

Solvent-based paints are generally Class 3 Dangerous Goods, and can't be sent by any postal service.

It is possible to airfreight them; but the freight, with DG surcharges and associated paperwork, would be several hundred $, for a single can.

Yes paint is such a problem nowadays to send. I wanted some Dawn Tools green for a SG vice and to get someone to transport it over to me in Adelaide from Melbourne proved to be a real handful. A few years ago you could get a truckie to put it in the cab and thus not have it on the manifest but even that's hard to find in today's day and age. I ended up having my son bring it over when he last drove over here. Now that I haven't used it straight away it's gone off in the sealed container and what really surprises me that it's not a 2 pack product.

Cheers,
BB.

Where I go they would be able to match it but it really has to be there so they can make it the right colour.
That's right BB you could and people did,but after a few truckies rolled and got trapped inside there truck and were overcome by fumes it soon stopped.
In fact a few years back when I was a driver for the RFS we got called to a truck MVA which was a truck full of beer which fell over and the driver very nearly dies.It wasn't because of injuries yes he was trapped as it fell on the divers side.It was due to the fumes inside the cab from the thinners that was in the paint cans that was inside.

Back to the original post, that engine is now destined to be used in my twin...
And no, I didn't pay the original asking price. Not even HALF that.
It is in reasonable condition. Compression is very good - on both cylinders. It does have some scoring visible through the exhaust ports though.
On that, how much scoring is acceptable? Obviously deep scoring is not a good thing, but "scratches"?

Anyway, when time permits I will strip it down and get an idea of it's real condition.

As I already have two twins (one complete but worn with almost no compression) and one parts-only, I should be able to make one good one from the bits I have.

You should shine one up for display purposes. They are an interesting looking engine when naked.

Looks like they are pretty easy to split, give the bores a quick hone and compression will be restored. One thing is I don't know what the bore is and that might be a ring problem, apart from that dead easy

Yes, I have a third engine in poor condition. Missing a ring and all the accessories, but it IS very clean. Currently hanging in my "man-cave" (aka garage...).
It attracts attention.
What I want to do is get/find/make a smallish propeller for it.
That will make them guess!

Jeff

Tell them it is from a captured experimental WW2 reconnaissance drone.

That is actually a very good idea considering Volkswagen's opposed air-cooled engines and their Hitler-Nazi origins.

Their early logo is virtually a swastika and some say that when the current logo is spun it resembles a swastika!

G'day all
I've heard that story - an urban myth perhaps?

I must say, I admire German engineering, and Germany is the birthplace
of the motor car. I guess France was the nursery (to borrow a Jay Leno phrase).

The main thing is pronunciation of German car names:



As far as I can tell, though, the Victa Twin is of Canadian origin.
Also nice people.

Cheers
--------------------------
Jack

Maybe it becomes this.

Yes Jack, the Germans certainly knew how to make intricate equipment. Just look at the workings of the Deutscher FH gearbox! How Deutscher survived the war I don't know. Some of our relatives going back were German/Australian and they were treated terribly during the war - same with the Japanese in USA.

It's surprising how many people still think all Germans were Nazi, which wasn't the case.

This book is well worth reading:

http://www.valorstudios.com/a-higher-call

(Wow I really have dragged this thread off topic now - apologies Blumbly!)

MF, Now that is an interesting one! One that virtually destroyed the entire British auto industry.

That distinctive spinning L logo was introduced in 1968 by British Leyland Motor Corporation, later known simply as BL Ltd.
It lives on with Ashok Leyland in India, who still produce trucks and buses for their home market and have even acquired a bus builder in the UK.

Some say this is a very big reason, even though I don't think they were that bad.

Yes it's hard to know fully. A lot of the problems seem to have been caused by the communist unions & the wharfies who were building the cars.

The shipment of launch Triumph TR7 cars to USA were sabotaged - even some of the engines came off the line with no pistons!

Cheapening parts just to save a few pence really killed off some of their cars such as the Stag with its cheap head gasket and unusual head bolt locations.

Then there was Alec Issigonis, he was an incredibly difficult person to deal with especially if someone queried his design.

Now it is only Jaguar and Land Rover and even these are far removed from their heritage now albeit owned by TATA India.

The V8 used in the Stag was the result of putting two Dolomite fours together to form the V8 after foolishly refusing to adopt the Rover division's existing and acclaimed V8. This underdeveloped new engine had inherent problems as a result ,but had the maddest V8 exhaust note in the business! Many owners converted their charges to Chevy V8s. You can barely tell the difference until you open the hood and look at the temperature gauge! I think someone told me once that the original Triumph Stag V8 can be made reliable with some work.
Many Jaguars in Australia had Chevys fitted by mechanics without telling the owners!! It became a common fix as it virtually bolted straight in and many owner were none the wiser, as it could be done the same day lol!!

Yes of course it's all hindsight now but it must have been hard trying to compete with the Rover under the same ownership. I'm a bit rusty on the dates but IIRC the Stag was based on the 2000 MKI that was replaced by the MKII in the early 1970's using the Stag design even though the Stag hadn't been released yet so they wouldn't have been owned by BL at the time. Saab were using the Dolomite slant 4 in the 99 but decided to turbocharge the 4 rather than do a V8 conversion.

My daily driver is a 1977 Triumph 2500 TC Auto that I hope to convert to manual + electric overdrive when I get the time. It is a fantastic car and like the Datsun of the same era can handle all the corrugated roads that a newer car wouldn't cope with. The trade off is a less precise road handling experience though. It returns 24 MPG from the straight six without any of the issues the Stag had.

Ahh the old trusty Borg Warner 3 speed slusher. Low tech, but cheap to have rebuilt and very smooth, but not the most efficient. All the same you should just keep it auto, since you are getting decent mileage anyway. I have always admired the looks of the 2500 sedan, both front and rear. They were assembled locally too by Leyland Australia.