OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Victa Lawn Mower Frames Victa VC160 Auto Drive V109

Yes your right it does say that.I don't know maybe it is in perfect condition.They could have cleaned the inside though.

Thanks Blumbly, It was when I saw the pictures of your auto drive on here a few years ago I thought to myself that if I was going to do a restore it was going to be that model (if I could find one). For the time being I suppose all I can do now is give it a good clean up as I don't think I am going to come across the original throttle lever, cowl, badge, or replacement catcher any time soon. In fact im not even sure if I will ever find a few of them here, especially the cowl, so if anyone on here has one for sale I would be particularly interested, even though I know the shipping is going to cost me a small fortune..!!

Quick question, when repainting parts that have decals do you guys mask over them or replace them with reproductions? I think I might have to mask over the ones on the flap (as tatty as they are) as I guess they will be real difficult to find again, even as reproductions. Do you think I should keep these decals in particular?

This really is a great forum. Thanks again everyone for all the help and advise you have given me, I could have easily put the wrong oil in the gearbox for a start!! I must admit I was that blown away with the condition of that catcher I overlooked the fact that it was the wrong one..!!

Yes Alan you need to find some way to save the decals.Either by masking up or removing.The easiest way I have found to remove them is by electrolysis as that destroys the paint underneath and the decal just falls off all in tacked and one piece and by using electrolysis you remove all the rust and have clean metal to start your work.Then after painting you could glue them back on.You won't find any new decals as yours seem to be a lot different to any auto drives I've found out here.Also (Don't know how fussy you are,I know I am)but these decals were originally done with a foil backing,and nobody does decals with foil backing.As the cost alone is just far to expensive.As for painting you cowl it shouldn't be that hard as they are made of some kind of fiber not plastic,(the later model auto drives were plastic but not this model)you should be able to (after removing the black paint) just rub it back with about 400 grit wet and dry sandpaper (with some soapy water) then just blow you colour over that.
As I did with my VC-160's and I think they turned out better than new.I know their not auto drives but the cowls are made of the same materiel.They were just clear coated.See below.

Invaluable info on the gearbox Gadge, Thanks..!!

The guy that I bought this mower from said he had owned it for the last 12 years but looking at the condition of that grub screw I would doubt very much that he changed the oil within that time.

As this is such important maintenance do you think that some damage will have occurred to the clutch plates? I suppose all I can do when I get the oil is change it and give it a try.

What a great job you have done there, They look superb..!!

It did cross my mind to repaint mine, I hoped it had just been painted black but unfortunately the cowl I have is a plastic replacement. At some stage someone has also drilled a hole in the top of it (that has cracks around it) to fit a stop switch. I suppose there may be a way to repair it (I may have to) but getting that lime green colour right would be a challenge especially in a plastic paint formula.



Wow, sounds interesting.. I've got some learning to do.!! What equipment would I need to do this?

Well yes it would be as being plastic you have to use a plastic primer.It still would work.I'm just not sure how you could get the colour match right without having one to go off.
Thanks it was a lot of work that went into them but also a lot of fun doing them.

Hi Blumbly,

Are replacement "Series 70 Mk II" decals available at all as they would be rather straight forward ?

Cheers,
BB.

Blumbly, I could be wrong but the way I read the label on your mower is "Use only 25cc of Victa gearbox oil part no 27-050" I believe the "25cc" part is the measure (cubic centilitres) which is equivalent to 25 ml?

http://www.convertunits.com/from/cc/to/ml

Hi Alan,

Well you got in first as that's exactly what I was thinking as well. 25cc is not a grade rather a volume.

Cheers,
BB.

G'day Alan,
Yep, that's exactly what I'd do. Find out if it's broke, before attempting to fix it!

If it hasn't done a lot of hours, it should be fine; and at least you know that nobody has put the wrong oil in it!

I had not seen my VC's for a while the green one looks OK.

Hi BB they are being done by one of our members but again they were originally done with a foil backing.I did purchased some but they just don't look the same so I didn't use them.As instead of the foil backing they were just coloured with silver ink.Just didn't look right.
I guess maybe that's just me but I feel if I'm going to go to effort of detailing the way I do and the decals aren't right then it kind of takes the look away.I want them to look as if I have just pulled it out of the box.

Yes the green one doesn't look bad at all.I take it you haven't got it running? The stater handle is missing.

Yeah maybe I don't know.I know that when the mower was purchased new it came with a kit to change the oil,but I just can't find anything more than that.
Also Alan does your auto drive have a cutting disc or bar blade?
I was going to ask you that earlier I just forgot.

No I have not had the VC with the handle missing running yet,it would not take much ,I have
eleven VC Victas and at least another seven engines and a few more mowers for parts.

Very nice, that green cowl looks very green..!!

I think it is going to be impossible for me to repaint my cowl the right colour without some kind of sample as a reference.

It has a disc Blumbley. I take it that some were made with bar blades?

To get the colour for you cowl it should be that hard most paints shops have computers and you could possibly send them an email with the picture of the colour they should be able to make something from that.
Yes Alan I have books here that say the Auto drive was exported with a bar blade.I was kind of hoping yours had one as I don't think I've seen one yet.

Hi all,

Looking for a colour to spray paint the cowl to try and get close to the pictures I have seen here. To my untrained eye it looks as though it could be:

https://www.ralcolorchart.com/ral-6019-pastel-green

I would really appreciate and welcome any feedback/suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

Alan.

Looks more than satisfactory to me, provided the colour panel turns out to be accurate. Is the original colour underneath the black paint? I'm guessing you have discounted the stripping back option. it's always a shame to have to paint a plastic cowl but sometimes you have no choice.

EDIT: on second comparison with the pictures of the green cowl above, the sample in you link looks too light to me. it might be back to the drawing board.

Hi Mowerfreak,

Yes, unfortunately I have a replacement black plastic cowl. I was really hoping it would be an original and just painted black but thats not the case.

I think you are right, looking back at the pictures it's not quite the right. I had my doubts about it hence asking for opinions. I really could do with a colour swatch number (Pantone, RAL etc) from some ones existing cowl as it is just too difficult to judge it from pictures with differences in light/camera exposures. The paint is not going to be cheap but I may just have to take a leap of faith otherwise.

Thanks

Alan.

Hi Allan,
I don't think matching the colour on a computer will work ,the image comes out
a different green depending on background lighting.

I took two images one after the other and got two different shades of green,
what I did find is a Light Green glass deco paint pen is a great match
for the green cowl.

If you paint the green on over the black cowl it will come out a different colour,
you may need a spray putty primer first then grey primer on top of the spray
putty primer then the green.I only mention those steps because if I don't
paint that way the paint is easily scratched off.

The glass deco paint pen is only a good colour match when it is still wet in
the pen,when it dries out it turns a dark green, so if you can find one or put up
a wanted ad for the green pen to colour match at a paint shop it should be a good
match if the inside of the cowl I photographed has not faded.

In these links the cowl looks slightly different to the green they show on the computer.
Light Green glass deco paint
https://yellowbee.my/products/Glass-Deco-Colour-Paint---10-x-11ml-(GD-C10-11)/653

150 Light green glass deco paint
http://renesanspolska.pl/en/discover/farby-do-szkla/

I did wonder if the green paint on the Auto Drive lettering was a match for the cowl (something I can check later) Cheers Max.

The Auto Drive lettering may have faded ,the underside of the starter is a good
colour match.

Max...

Wow..!!!

I thought about matching the colour on the "Auto Drive" lettering, but there is just not enough of it to get an accurate match. I also thought about the zip starter colour, but again decided against it as it would have faded loads over time. Your suggestion to use the underside of the zip starter is something I simply overlooked....Thank you..!!

My plan now is to take the starter to a paint shop so they can get densitometer readings from both the underside and topside, hopefully I should end up with a colour which is between the two... Solved....!!!

Max, I really cant thank you enough for taking the time and effort to help me with this. I was stumped for a while there, you really are a true Gent..!!

I really appreciate all the help you guys have given me here and hope that this post (along with Max's superb efforts) will help others also looking to do something similar in the future. I will of course be the guinea pig and post the pics of how good (or bad) it turns out in the end when I finally get it done.... this will be sorted out before Xmas.

Everyone...Thanks again..!!

Alan.

Just wondering why you want to go between the two instead of just the preserved sample underneath? I'm sure you have a good reason.
Is it because of the starter colour being faded on top and clashing with the proper green? Just curious.

Yeah, I guess with a new bright green cowl it might look a bit "too new" and out of place with the rest of the parts?

I am in two minds as to what level of resto I am going to do with this model. Initially I thought I would try and get it back to factory condition, shut it away in the garage and just look at it now and again, but It's not a really rare model and I think I would enjoy using it sometimes.... maybe just keep it in a "good period condition"?

Parts are getting pretty hard to come by here, I was only 3 years old when this beast was made and in a silly way it's retro look kind of reminds me of the era when I was born?... maybe my wife will bury me with it (in working condition) when I bite the dust..!!

I think it might be best to see what parts I can get hold of first and then decide.

Thanks again

Alan.

Guys,

Managed to find another machine, a VC160 Mk2..??

I can probably only count on one hand the number of these I have seen on ebay over the last couple of years. There is not too much wrong with it but, although it runs really well (I cut my lawn with it when I got it home).... sadly, and I say this with a heavy heart, I am going to have to use a number of the parts from this for the Auto Drive.

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/uploads/3741.jpeg


https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/uploads/3740.jpeg


As you all know I desperately need the dress cowl in particular (fortunately it has a really good one). I also need the snorkel, throttle lever & cable, air filter housing and several other smaller parts.

Well, I took the zip starter to the paint shop yesterday and got some paint mixed that was matched to the underside of the starter (as kindly suggested from Maxwestern & Mowerfreak). I had second thoughts in the end about getting a colour that would be somewhere in between the top and bottom of the starter and I really hope it turns out ok as it really does look "very green"..... it wasn't cheap either..!!


https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/uploads/3742.jpg



I need to get some plastic primer next as it was ridiculously expensive at the paint shop, then I suppose I will be ready to paint the cowl.

One question though, would you guys recommend putting a petrol resistant clear coat/lacquer over any painted parts like this when its done? I don't want it to look glossy as I don't think it would have been like that when it was made?


Cheers

Alan.

PS, The sample looks a little bit lighter in colour, it was just a light coat of spray as I didn't want to waste too much..!!

Also, I know I managed to achieve it before but I just cant work how to get the pics in context? only as attachments?

All I can say is How Sad.

What a lovely dress Cowl this has to, so white and not sun affected and to paint it such a hideous colour is a travesty.

How the clowns at Victa ever thought of such a awful colour beats me, probably the reason why there were bugger all of them sold initially.

The VC160 was such a striking machine when it was released but then they seemed to lose the plot with all their 70's colour schemes.

Hi all

I feel Max has offered a caution about this.
Paint colours do fade and change over time. I like your approach!

I like the two-tone green used on these Autodrives, and I admire Alan's determination in its replication.
These are rare machines now, and we have no paint colour identifiers or codes.

Alan, this site now uses a gallery system ... but ...
You can add explanatory text in the text box before uploading the image.

This is my favourite Autodrive and I look forward to your progress.

Many thanks.
-----------------------------
Jack

Hi All,

I guess that's where Jack and I agree to disagree.

Hey if we were all the same then we'd all be driving around in a Holden HG 350 Monaro.

Cheers,
BB.