OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Collectors Corner Identification of Particular Machines PACE with Villiers 7F

Hi Cyberjack, i'm not sure if its this easy but i have a villiers 7F engine that i'm trying to date and the first 4 numbers/letters are 463X, it is on a Pace

Hello Kye, Paul, exfarmer and all,

That's easy to get a close dating - on the 7F 463X
The 7F was made here and started to appear on AUS lawnmowers in
the last quarter of 1957. Because of the 'secret' takeover of Pace
by Victa in 1959, the Villiers were dropped in favour of Victa
engines and Kirbys for the 1960s.

The last 7Fs on Pace lawnmowers would appear for the 1961-62
lawnmowing season.

So your engine must date between those times. It is a standard
specification red painted engine. Note that it replaces the older
301X - suggesting it's very early 1960s.

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

if it helps i have a picture of it here, also where do you get these codes from?

Hello Kye

That's a great, original condition Pace.
I don't see a throttle cable - so I guess this is a Pace Automatic.
Here is a record from October, 1958.



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

p.s. Kye, I might move your post to another topic.
It seems to be worthy of another post.
Will this mower remain un-restored?

thanks for the info but it does have a throttle cable and i will probably restore it, unless you guys think it should stay the way it is and feel free to move this where ever you want!

Hello Kye

Thanks for that additional information.
There was a hand throttle version - the 'Super'.



Other members might think differently, but it's up to you
whether to restore in this particular case. The arguments
are these:-

[1] Because the machine is in original condition with good
paintwork, the machine will probably increase in value with
no major restoration (no repainting).

[2] Because examples of the model exist in original condition,
a major restoration would be understandable.

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

thanks for that but what does the "Super" transfer across from of base mean? when i found that on the vintage mowers page i thought it must have said super on the front of the base. I was also planning to do a restoration because the on/off switch is broken and needs to b fixed, its missing a hubcap and the base is starting to get some cracks that we would like to fix before it gets worse!

Hello Kye,

I guess it was a decal or transfer similar to the 'automatic'
one in the advert (above). It was placed on the red grill.

-----------------------
Jack

aaahhh that makes sense! thanks for that because i was pretty stumped on which model it was because of that!

Hi Kye and CyberJack,

I have found out how Kye can have an exact date of his 7F engine manufacture. The year and month is stamped on top of the magneto rotor. Easy to get at by removing the starter and shroud revealing the fan. The fan is held on by the centre nut which will come off easily, there may still be a paper packing piece on top of the rotor. Under this stamped into the top of the rotor will be the date

The pics below are from an EBay auction




I just spotted this as well, you may not have to strip the shroud etc off if you can find it near the points cover



Let us know what you find Kye :-)

thanks for that Paul! using the second method the only number i can see is either a 50 or a 60, i will check under the cover before the holidays end though!

Yours should be either 57 or 58, they are stamped quite lightly so you would have to make sure the area near the points is clean and a torch may assist you.

are you sure it's a 57 or 58? Cyber thinks its a 1959-1961 Pace Super

Ok, let's see what date you find on the engine. There could be some wait period from when the engine was made until it was fitted to a deck, probably not a year though.