Hi Mowerfreak,
Thanks so much for your comments and I was certainly surprised that the 'Celestial' brand was carried by Waltons. The decal guy on eBay had the Waltonts one and I very nearly bought it - just never knew to make the connection. Thanks for the pics too, they were great to see. The blue Starlet Life mower? Haha... I agree and I wouldn't have done it if not for my youngest daughter who insisted on it. We had a Starlet the same colour (this was the paint I had left over) after I taught her how to paint and blend the colour on the front guard... it had some delamination of the clear coat. Anyway, long story short, we went everywhere in that car and she loved it, but the Takata airbag crisis meant that the car was bought back by Toyota and destroyed. Hence the tribute Victa in its honour. I looked at the other restoration of the one you mentioned in the lower post and yes, to use these would certainly tarnish them. That said they are painted in automotive grade products from the etch to clear coat. If they were to be re-introduced to service I'd splash over them with a 2K iso-free clear which is a really hard coating, far more so than the original hammer finish which is essentially an enamel paint system. From what I could see in that earlier thread, the later Victa was painted in air dry enamel. There is QD (quick dry) and air dry - the latter gives a better finish but takes longer to tack off - both varieties lose their sheen level anyway and they stay soft which is why they can never be buffed. Either way, enamels are quite often sold as 'self priming' which is perhaps a bit of an oxymoron? Enamels have great adhesion, so most people don't etch prime beneath the coating. I am of the belief that aluminium should always be etched... whatever the case, these old things will remain rebuilt ornaments at least in the forseeable future. Cheers and thanks again.
