OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Victa Lawn Mower Frames Victa Self-Propelled: Another bloody ID Question

G'day Gentlemen,
I picked this gem up a while ago at an auction. The old kind where you stand there looking at boxes of rusty gold all day and fill the boot with the kind of stuff you need to sneak past the Mrs. Anyway. I missed the first mower, also a Victa it appeared to be in sensational condition with a period fuel can. Sadly I couldn't get my arm up quick enough and it went for something like $7. Anyway I got this for $15 from memory.





So rather than just tell me the year (which I would really appreciate) can someone explain how to decipher the engine number?
The base is cracked and split which is fine, I expect to be able to weld it but it's so moth eaten I just don't think it's worth the effort so what are my chances of finding another SP base?
Otherwise I might make sure the SP works and cut up a standard base and make one of the two.
Thanks in advance
Slashnburn

Wow.havent seen one of these in a long time.nice score.hope it all turns out good for you

Thanks mate.
So can anyone tell me if the 67 from the engine number means 1967 build?
Has anyone got experience welding the bases?

Hello slashburn

We'll just have to see how this one develops.
The issue is that there is a miss-match between the '67' date stamp for the
engine and the 70 series cowling, carby, throttle, etc.

I guess I'm reading that all wrong, and the date is in fact '70' for 1970.

I think the Victa experts may offer some observations.
I certainly will need to think on this one.

Hope this helps.
----------------------------
Jack

p.s. I hope a member will be able to help with the base, as
these early self-propelled machines have been largely ignored.

Thanks mate. As I said I picked it up at a clearance sale so know nothing about it. Actually I knew bugger all about mowers in general until I started reading the archives here.

Have a look HERE it might help, I have still got mine and if you decide not to go ahead with yours I would be interested in the drive rollers etc, I would love to see you do yours up but just putting it out there

Yours is 820 mowers earlier than mine.

Hello slashnburn and jonesy

Thanks jonesy for helping out here.

slashnburn, to answer one of your questions. Jonesy has linked to a
very helpful topic on this. It is the '70' in the crankcase numbers
that (apparently) designate the year of manufacture of the engine.

The other numbers appear to be serial numbers for factory use.
My understanding is that Victa never published 'public' documents
on how these numbers might be interpreted.

I cannot give you an exact year of manufacture - because the
engine date year was not the same as the model year (the model year
runs from the start of Spring to the following end of Winter).
This means that your mower could date from the 1969-70 or the
1970-71 mowing season. It probably doesn't matter that much.

The thing that compounds the exact mower model identification
is that there were rapid changes to components on Victa mowers
in the late 1960s and some of these changes were made during the
season, resulting in multiple models in the one season. This
is reflected in the summary below.

The authoritative Mr Davis has identified your machine as,
probably, a V68 for 1970-71.

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...amp;Main=8641&Number=50596#Post50596

G'day Jonesy,
Thanks mate that was an interesting read. I don't expect I'll be parting with her anytime soon. If she upsets me too much I'm more inclined to push it to the back of the shed until it catches my eye sometime in the future. Probably after a few refreshments! If however you decide to part company with yours.....

Jack,
Thanks mate. That probably answers all the questions.

According to Tomo4192 those bases chip and break easily mine has certainly had better days. Does anyone have any experience repairing the decks? I reckon it will be a bitch to weld. Maybe they changed the metallurgy for a while there?

Thanks

hi s/b, and a nice pickup there, it will depend on what you plan to do with it, but the base is unique
to the sp. so no good using a 'other' model base, if you just want a good looking resto, just use a metal based filler
and it will come up a treat, if you want to use it you will most likely need to find a good base.
cheers pete

Base can be repaired, depends on how much you want to repair it, but would probably cost $50 to get it tig welded up. Another way is to plate the inside with a 3mm piece of steel,drill and tap it to the base from the inside, put it all together with JB Weld, then cut the ends of the threads off on the outside, JB Weld it on the outside, sand it back, paint it and you will never know from the outside

Thanks Pete and NormK. I can tig her up myself after work one night. I'm just a little concerned the base may be too far corroded.
Does anyone have any experience using an acid to etch away the corrosion?
I intend to make her a functioning machine. I don't see any real point in not being able to use it.
I reckon JB weld and plating would be a bloody good "plan B"

Slash, if you are going to tig it up it needs to be super clean, I would run right along the crack with a thin grinding disc, possibly in a dremmel and grind both sides so you get it back to good ally. The JB sandwich should also hold I think, nothing to loose

Norm, you sound like you've done this before?
Have you welded up many bases? If so, I haven't touched anything this bad for a few years so would like to pick your brain a bit if you don't mind.