OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Tip & Curb Side Finds This Weekends kerb side finds

Some new treasure yesterday.
Replaced the stale fuel in the Stihl and away it went, nothing wrong with it.
The corvette is a beauty, sadly someone through it out because of the vibration due to the broken blade. Replaced the blades with a set of NOS ones I had here and mowed my lawn, what a great mower, they don't make them like they used to. Could someone date it for me please.
I haven't looked at the last 2, that'll be a job for today.

That’s the sort of fInds I love seeing.

There’ll be someone more knowledgeable than me along to date this but it looks to me to be a 1964 Model Corvette 2. Originally it would have had an impulse starter but it’s been fitted with a 1974 onward zip starter. Most likely after the pawls on the impulse starter wore out, as was common.

I wonder whether they also fitted the decompressor. I suspect that starter may not last as long as it otherwise would if they haven’t. Is it difficult to operate the pull start?

Decoding Victa serial number in this era is relatively straightforward compared with what came later.

We have here

464 15554

The first digit “4”,is the internal Victa model code in use at the time for that model.

The second two digits give the year, “64” being for 1964.

The other digits give the number made up to that point, so this was the 15554th mower made in that model.

Now to just remove that horrid looking zip starter and source an impulse set up. The further back you go, the nicer the engines sound.
To think these were being tossed out everywhere in favour of the plastic covered models, back in the early 1980s.
Beautiful score there BigTed. A shame the blades are no longer available -at least easily.

Hi bigted ,Ironbark and Mf

Some good finds there.

The 1964 Corvette is a bitsa ,the base is wrong for the engine ,as the side port should be on the opposite side for later 1964
Corvette mowers like this. When the port is on the other side it's used for edging and is not a side discharge port.

The engine is missing it's front mount air cleaner and obviously the starter should be the impulse starter , I'm not a fan
of the impulse starters ,I have early mowers that run this starter and they work fine without a decompressor.

The impulse starters were only designed to work for a few years but a recoil starter will outlast the engine.

The orange starter being from a Sunbeam mower.

Cheers
Max.

Thanks for the reply Gents, no, its not that hard to start and it hasn't had a decompressor fitted.
The orange starter will be removed and replaced by a green or white one. Impulse starters are a PITA and almost impossible to find in good working order.
So my guess is somewhere along the way someone re-engined this later model corvette with a 64 model motor.
P.S. the powertorque Victa Rapier just needed a starter re rope and the Sanli needed a carby clean and a new spark pug boot.
All in all a good little bounty..

Cheers, Ted

I do agree, not a fan either. Just that the bright orange starter looks too modern and out of place on that mower and just makes it scream 'bitsa'.
Congratulations on getting the trio working.

Interesting to hear it’s ok to start. I asked because I have a 1970 utility that was originally fitted with an impulse starter which someone has adapted to the Victa 18 style manual wind pull rope. The spinning exposed pulley doesn’t thrill me in terms of safety and it tends to catch on bushes when I give it a bit of a run.

I have a couple of options with it, take the impulse starter off a spare, excellent condition, mid-60’s Corvette engine and shroud assembly I have kicking about, or adapt it to take one of my several early 70’s zip starters.

I might try the zip starter if the absence of a decompressor doesn’t cause a problem.

The lack of a decompressor won't cause any problems, the biggest issue you may have is a broken starter rope every 5 years or so.

Here's a few more from hard garbage on Sunday night

Cheers, Ted

I just fitted a motor without a decomp valve fitted on a 24 and it starts very easily. It also had a G3 carby on it so I fitted a G4 on it and it is a great easy starting machine