OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Tip & Curb Side Finds Victa Red Utility - c1970s

I did a computer job for a friend.... I mentioned ODK and he said he got rid of all his mowers, only a toecuter he was going to put in dumpster......
Now I have another project, good comptession.... a decompressor so it can't be that old. Maybe a 125cc.




cheers
speedy

It's a 160cc going by the spark plug position and decompression valve. It needs the fan replaced too.
The red toe cutter base and decompression valve ( zip start) combination places it as an early 1970s utility model.
Hope you find the necessary bits to get this back on the road. Nice model.

Yup. Through studs on the barrel make it a 160cc, serial number says 1974 model year.
Edit: So the VictaCode No. will be V144 or V168.

I've got pretty well all the rest of the bits for that Speedy. From the same model ute. Hope to be over there sometime mid July.

fantastic, it's coming together. I have a flywheeel.
That's a funny black plastic vane , looks like a B&S govener vane...
thanks
speedy

what if I just broke off the opposite pieces on the flywheel fan? It should be balanced. My other flywheel is from a different 160cc motor.
speedy

The fins are for cooling and operating the governor vane so if you break them off you are going to reduce both those functions. The one I have here has intact fins if you can hang on a week or two. Or if you feel like a day out you can take a run over :-)

Hi Speedy as Trev said they are for cooling and as it is a utility it isn't meant for just running over 1 inch high lawns, these are a hard working machine and the temps up around Bundy mean they need all the cooling they can get. This machine has a million years of life left in it so get the one from Trev, the motor will love you for it

Hi Trev, I'll wait. It will take a while to get motor going and run it first, then take it apart and soak in mollasses bath for 3 weeks then paint it.....
just thinking of a colour scheme.... original white and orange.
speedy

Hi speedy, what ratio do you use to water and do you use demineralised water or just tap water?
I noticed a largish jar of molasses (about 800g) at Coles for nearly $4.00 but a) it isn't enough and b) I have a feeling I can get a much greater quantity in a specialty store for not much more to soak an engine cowl.

Try your local pet store or produce store, you can get bulk supplies there.

As NormK says, stock/horse supplies joints - it only needs to be stock feed grade, not food grade. I've seen ratios from 1+5 to 1+10 molasses:water quoted. But being a tightarse, I mixed it at 1+10, which worked just fine. A 5kg tub was ~$13, last time I bought it.

Mix it up with hot tap water, especially at this time of year. Doesn't hurt to warm the molasses tub up by putting it in a bucket of hot water for a while beforehand, to make it flow more easily.

A few things about setting up the bath;

• It will have to be set up somewhere outdoors, as it gets pretty stinky
• The bath needs to be covered, to keep insects/vermin out
• Allow some headspace for froth, as it does foam up a bit, particularly in warm weather

Pic in this past post; https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/64611/prep_for_paintwork.html#Post64616

I have since found that while it doesn't seem to corrode heavy metal sections like tools, don't forget about light sheetmetal parts and leave them in more than a week without checking - I ruined a Primus kero stove top plate that way.

My 125 engine cowl will be my Guinea pig. I do hope it isn't a source of despair.
Where do you dispose of the waste afterward?

Thanks gadge for the reply, it's what I do. Get mollasses from farm products store at $1.60 a lt. I just made a pine frame and put plastic sheet in to fit a mower base. I just tip it on the lawn afterwards....
It's good to put any old rusty tools nuts and bolts etc etc.
good luck
speedy

What about the electrolysis rust removal method?

Mollasses is easy, never tried electrolysis.
speedy

It does indeed have its uses, but has the limitation that a workpiece of relatively large surface area [e.g. a mower deck]requires a very hefty low voltage DC power supply to drive it.

The critical factor here is current density, in terms of A/m^2 of surface area. For a largish surface area, you really need something along the lines of an old electroplating power supply unit, which aren't all that easy to come by, in the right size.

There are a fair few used units [a Google search for 'electroplating rectifier' finds these] on the market, as many 'jobber' electroplating shops have closed down in recent times, due to environmental compliance and waste disposal issues.

But these tend to be way too large, in both physical and capacity terms, for use in a home workshop. Like 415V 3 phase input, and several thousand amperes DC output...

testing testing
I greased the axles, faced and adjusted points. put a carb cable on bodgied a fuel tank.
It started after a few turns of the electric drill.
But the socket and shaft stayed on the mower, so I did a few runs of the front lawn.
Good power little smoke, now I'm ready to disassemble it into the mollasses bath......
cheers
speedy
Bundy

Nice capture of the running engine.
How do you rinse and dry the work once you take it out of the bath? I would be concerned about rust starting the minute you hose it off. I get OCD about this stuff.

I hose it off and then just let it dry in the sun and then start ripping the leftover paint off with that circular wire brush. Then get paint on asap.
I will take carb apart and clean and do a decoke too.
speedy