it may be an idea to look for a 160cc victa as you will have a bit more grunt and they have a small end needle bearing instead of brass insert that the 125cc's have so they are a bit better engine. im pretty sure you can run them as a horizontal crank but not 100%. cant see why not. look for one without a decompresser and with one of the older aluminium carbs with the plastic float bowel as they were better carbs then the fantastic plastic crap of later years called the G4.
only problem you may have with a victa mower is fitting a clutch / sprocket because of the tapered shaft but with a bit of machining on a lathe it wont take allot of work to get it right.
this is just my opinion but what i would do as it not only keeps it all original it also makes it user friendly.
regards jay
