OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Tip & Curb Side Finds VC 160 Bitsa

I was just setting off to go down to Sydney when I saw this under the streetlights not far from home.
I thought should I, as the frame has a hole on the side and it looks like it has been apart but this is a VC that has found ME, so off to strain my back again and load this up in the back seat.
The motor turns, so we will see if I can get the clunker to run.

And with a Rover catcher fitted it will give years of service

It has a military look to it. I have a nos catcher that will fit. It has a "backward" mounted G4 with the air tube detached. It looks filthy in there. Will probably have to clean it all out.

That is sad that someone could do that to a VC-160 or a VC-125.I can feel my tear ducks filling up as I type this out.

Have you seen this one on YouTube?
[video][/video]

Wow !

Nice safety boots this guy has on, also a great muffler in pristine condition I see.

Blumby you can't be sad for all the trashed up mowers of the world, just be glad for the ones you have saved

that style of safety boot are very popular in china,
that mower looks like a accident waiting to happen, bolts missing and things lose, wonder if the blade disc is tight.
that things scary

I think you took me literally as being sad,but no I'm not sad about all the trashed up mowers of world,I've trashed a lot myself.

Drilled out the ends of all the cracks emanating from the hole and pushed some Selleys Knead it steel repair epoxy through the hole. Also for aluminium it says.

I have discovered two fins from one side of the fan are broken off. Should I break two more off the opposite side for balance, replace fan or just leave it as is without it causing balancing issues?

I use Pro-Weld, which is probably like JB-weld, cold welding poly compound.

For a hole in the base, if the mower is steel I weld it up as best as possible, then fill with poly-weld, then add some bog, then sand off until smooth. If the base is alloy, I drill holes, then rivet an aluminium plate over the hole, then JB weld and bog, then sand off once dry. In most cases the damage cannot be easily spotted, especially once it is primed and painted over.

Mowerfreak, I have successfully rebuilt fins using pieces of folded aluminium and Pro-Weld formula. Works a treat, but you have to have the area clean as a whistle before applying. It can be very fiddly. I am constantly amazed at the strength of this stuff. Never as strong as the original of course, but in some cases close to it.

Oh my!!

Now this poor bugger is indeed a bitsa...

The base is a 1972-1973 Victa VC-160 MKIII, the V111... I can see the re-designed lower handle latches, the 2-peice catch flap and later height adjuster... however, that seems to be about as far as it goes...

I'll take a stab that the whole engine is not the original, as the cooling cowl, cylinder and carburettor clearly are not, at a guess I'd throw down MKI VC-Mustang engine transplant, based of the backwards carburettor, as I'm fairly sure the carby was not backwards on the sports, seing as there was room for the pip out the rh side... Also, that looks like a mustang tank, with the dress cowl cut to accomodate...

That Dress cowl was a bit later too I think, by memory, the sports-style dress cowl didn't come in black till the later 70's...

The wheels are even later I think... I don't think we saw the 2-part chrome's till the 80's?

And to top it off, it's even been repainted in a different shade of green, and in places the green was never meant to be, plus those black handle bars...

That is, through and through a true frankenstine you've got there mate... I'm seeing at least 4 separate mowers... maybe more... capped off with a backyard paint job! I'm not sure what to think, there is always a sadness to seing old machines taken beyond restore, but then, at least to me, i often find that balanced when I see such determination to ensure that "She'll be right mate, the lawn will be cut"

In a sense a true Frankie like this is it's own history, less a machine in Victa's line up, and more a battler in testament to the never die backyard mower mechanics of australia!

Any chance you can find the engine serial?

Hi Mr Davis,
I pulled Frankenmower out and after some unnecessary dismantling of the engine cover and petrol tank, discovered the number on the RH side.
I had thought the number would be on the carby side, based on a low arch I examined earlier.
The number appears, upon careful examination with a workshop light, to be as follows:
119-770-778.
Some pics of the machine including the rebuilt carby and kill button I fitted using a zip tie!
Engine sounds energetic. Yes I know, the snorkel sticks out. It needs the proper snorkel.

Hi Mr Davis

My VC sports has the carby on backwards as well - even though there does seem to be clearance. Seems original

Hi Tyler,
yours has the proper rubber coupling for the carby, mine is using the low/mid arch one for north south engine.
As well as sticking out too far, it restricts the cutting heights I can choose as the snorkel will rub against the wheel if I go to much lower than maximum height. Just as well I favour high settings anyway.
This mower is my mule for NormK's G4/LM carby modifications and it was pretty successful for my first attempt. Pushing the primer requires reaching with the finger which is quite doable.

I have had these mowers and my fix has been to just turn the carby around and run the snorkel up over the high arch, sometimes I have notched out the cowl to allow the snorkel through.

NormK, for a rh intake in a VC 160/125/Auto Drive base you would need to bore two portals through the base itself for the tube to pass through and put a sheath around the section that is inside to shield it from the high speed clippings and other debris on it's way to the catcher. It may interfere with the flow as well. I think it's best to keep the air hose to the left on these.

Not sure what you mean MF, I have done a few of them and I didn't seem to have any real problems apart from the difficulty of getting the snorkel past the coil, but this is a standard problem on all F/C's with the LM carb fitted.

The body of this series are chubbier and leave little space to fit a snorkel between the top of the hi arch chute and the petrol tank.