OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Victa Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers Victa: The Triplets

Just moving this thread over to the correct place.

The restoration of my three 18s got hung up a bit because I couldn't get the Blade Holder Retaining nut off any of the mowers - tried penetrating oil, heat,breaker bar etc with no luck.

After some advice from the guys here I bought myself a Rattle Gun - and bingo - off they came as easy as anything - great bit of kit - should have bought one years ago.

So here is the current state of play:



Today I'll get the wheels/axles etc off, and then start cleaning and off to the Sand Blaster....

A question though - the Muffler Plate (under the Blade Holder) - two of them came off with no issues, but then I took the third off I found this....





Is there some kind of cardboard separator or gasket or something tat goes in there? Or it that just a huge carbon build up after years of use? Obviously the outside is all black/carbonised, but inside looks like some kind of board.

In any case I gather its not needed, because 2 of the three mowers didn't have it, and this mower only had about 1/3 of it in place

The top photo shows where it was actually located, bottom photo give a better view of the "thing" itself.


Polybus

Polybus, Yes there is a gasket in there that can be bought from outdoor king store, but be carefull with the old gasket material (also around the exhaust from the barrel to the base plate) as the older ones contained asbestos.




cheers

Had to go away for work for a couple of weeks, but back again and back into the Victas....

Dropped a load of stuff off at the Sandblaster today, and took the petrol tanks down to Redi-Strip - Holy Snappin' Duck Sh!t Batman!! They wanted $30 each to dip them.

Bugger that!! I took them home and done it myself with an angle grinder and a plastic stripping disk. I will strip and prep the inside of the tanks with POR-15 Petrol Tank restorer - Its expensive - but I've used it before and its damn good!!



Anyone got any suggestions how to clean/polish the alloy Muffler thingy (I think that is the correct name for it) the nice alloy bit with the fins on it.... I don't have anything that gets in between the fins - I've got it cleaning in the Ultrasonic Cleaner as Im typing this, but that's not going to get it nice and shiny. I've cleaned one surface, and tried to polish it, but the metal seems quite porous and doesn't seem to polish all that well.

Suggestions?

Once the stuff comes back from the sandblaster - the big question of paint will raise its ugly head. I think I might try and get some of the Galmet Hammertone Avocardo and either brush paint it, or get one of those PreVal hand aerosol sprayers and have a go with that.

Any tips for spraying - I assume I've got to thin the paint down before I can use it in the PreVal. And what type of Primer should I use, the Galmet is an Enamel isn't it? Do I need a specific primer for Enamel paints?

Thanks in advance.



Polybus.

Hi Guys - been a while since I posted here - once again work has gotten in the way of real life and I had to head off for a couple of months work - I guess I have to pay for the mower bits somehow.....

Here is the progress on the Triplets....

Lots of sandblasting - almost ready to start prepping for painting....









????Where did the 4th muffler come from???

Of course now the age old questions that has been hashed over time and time again.....colour.

I'm thinking I will do all the handle bars Deep Brunswick Green in the Wattle Rust Guard and I might do the Galmet custom mix formula mentioned in other posts for two of them, and have a go at the Hammerite Green on the other one - really just to see the two side by side - going by what a number of other guys on here have done - both of them seem to come up really well!

Now if only I can avoid work for a few weeks.


Polybus

Hi Polybus,
And my congrats on your work thus far mate.
Once painted, they will come up a treat...best of luck with the prep.

They look FANTASTIC, can't wait to see these completed.
Please do a step by step so we can all follow along and maybe learn a trick or two.

For those of you who have been waiting for progress on The Triplets - sorry - work has got in the way and they are now very safely stored away in Sydney - the trouble is, I am very safely stored away in Port Douglas, Queensland.

Yes - work dictated at least 12 months up in Tropical Far North Queensland - so I had to up and leave The Triplets.

Sadly, I am now in a one bedroom unit with no garage, no workshop - nothing!! But despite that - I have got myself a little JAP Model 2a that I am now restoring on my dining room table - (don't tell the Landlord!!)





So - I'll start a new thread for that.....

Rest assured - as soon as I get back to Sydney - The Triplets will be revived!!

Polybus

As far as your painting was concerned and the questioned you asked.
I would spray it out of a gun as it will give you the best paint job at the end.
As far as it blowing up it will only happen if you don't use primer or you have dirt and or silicon on the surface before painting.Remember the best paint job has the best preparation.
As far as thinning goes it really does depends on what sort of paint you get and whether it has already been thinned down.
I bought 4 liters of hammmertone to do my shelf's (for my mowers) it was already thinned down.I did thin it a little more just so I got enough out of it to do the shelf's,but I didn't need to.
So it just depends on that fact.
Any questions just ask I'm always happy to help.
P.S. Keep up the good work.

Back from the Tropics......

Not happy to be back in Sydney - but happy to get my hands on "The Triplets" again (sounds a bit risque!!)

I'm back from Port Douglas on leave for 4 weeks - so I've put "The Twins" (the JAP 2a and 2s) into storage in Port Douglas, and got "The Triplets" (3 x Victa 18s) out of storage here in Sydney.

If you want to see how The Twins are progressing - you can see it on my Web Site:

My Shed


As for The Triplets - you may recall they have been disassembled, degreased, sandblasted and stored - so.

Began prepping them for painting.

All the Handlebars, Handle Bar Clamps and Fuel Tanks got a quick sanding - they had started to develop patches of rust because they'd been sitting there so long - and then covered with a a couple of coats of Primer/Filler to try and smooth things out.

Followed by a good sanding to try and get things as nice as I could - as we all know - but often choose to ignore - a paint job is only as good as the preparation work that goes into it.

I was really quite happy with the way the came out - so then - and I don't know why I do this - I gave everything a good couple of coats of White Knight Rust Guard Red Oxide Spray Paint. I guess it might help to reduce corrosion in the future - but the truth is I have used it a lot in the past and got pretty good results - so now I use it for everything I do.

Any comments on the Red Oxide?? I'm not even sure it is "Red Oxide" anymore - I suspect its just to describe the colour.

So everything has received three coats of Red Oxide and I'll give it a good sand (to roughen it a little bit) before I put on the Hammerite Dark Green Hammer Tone Paint.

Here's how things are looking now:




So I'm pretty happy with them - now I'm going to start on prepping the Bases for painting.

Polybus

If it works Use It!

I prefer an etch in light grey, then a Primer on steel parts. The Wattle range has very good rust prevention properties and covers well.

Red oxide for me is to dark and requires more top coat to cover.

I also only use an etch on alloy as most parts are rough cast and require less adhesion for top coats.

With all this said, traditional red oxide was generally of a higher viscosity and covered imperfections well, in addition to its rust prevention properties.

3 coats would give a very stable base and good fill without having to use a high fill or putty.

The other small negative for me is chips/ scratches....the red sticks out like a sore thumb.

All in all its still a good choice, easy to use and definately prevents rust forming and penetrating a nice top coat.

And if its worked for you in the past, then DONT CHANGE A THING!

Looks great and I can't wait to see more of the Triplets!

Nice to see you back on board Polybus

They're BACK!!!!

After 7 years in the wilderness, both me and The Triplets are back!!

They have been stored quite carefully for years now, but I am back at them.

As you may recall, The Triplets had pretty much been stripped back, sandblasted and received their rust resistant undercoats - then disappeared.

Well my work situation has brought me back to Sydney and my toys, so I'm back at it.

They are now a lovely shade of Hammertone Green. Not the Galmet Avocardo, but the Hammerite Green Hammertone. I think its darker than the original, but its close (ish), and I like it.

Here's some photos attached as a gallery.

I need to add the red highlights on the Victa emblem, but essentially they're done.

Next will be the axles, they need to be straightened, and despite my careful storing, they have started to rust again, but not too bad. And of course the wheels.

More to follow - as I have now officially started to retire, so I will not be away from home so much - apart from holidays

Can anyone recommend a decent supplier for reproduction stickers/decals for The Triplets?

Everywhere I have found has the stupid versions with all the Spelling Mistakes.....I don't want those.

I'm after the usual one Castrol one for the Fuel Tank and the not so common Castrol one that goes on the cowl - The Cowl one as shown in below photo (with Yellow Text, not white)

Any recommendations?



Thanks.

Hi Polybus,

Usually the first place people look is eBay as you most likely have then they message silensmessor from Vintage Mower Decals
for any decals they can't find.

Cheers
Max.

Thanks Max - I've scanned eBay and lots and done quite a bit of Googling - and could only find the dodgy Stickers with the terrible spelling mistakes.

I'll try silensmessor with a direct contact and see how I go - thanks again.

Last person I saw selling the cowl sticker was FarmerJ18 but worth asking silensmessor first.


Cheers
Max.