OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Tip & Curb Side Finds Victa catchers mystery???

This is the catcher that was with the Silver Streak. Ive glued it back together, still got to plate it out. Its a shame the front isnt broke on the other side or i could make it work on the self propelled.
Fits the type 2 high arch base im assuming. (same base as green mustang and orange sport)



Does this sound right??
Type 1 being the VC160's
Type 2 being the sport and green mustang with the two piece door, thumb catch bar and the handle latches on the side with bi fold handle.
Type 3 being the high arch/mustang/etc first with the power torque thumb catch setup but one peice flap and fixed handle brackets, single fold.
Type 4 being the later 'vortex' or 'turbo disc' type base. Same catcher as Type 3 but usually the large twin grip.
Type 5 and 6 take the steel base catcher.
Newer than that i have no idea.


Heres the Impala.




Any ideas on this one???



Bob.

The tin catcher looks a like the one off my corvette 2, there are minor fidderences though.

The Impqala is a bit of a mistery, appears to take the thumb lever catcher, but theres no bar (or space for one) on that door for it to vatch onto, nothing like the VC-160 type, and seems to have the remains of the usual black post to lift the flap inside the catcher.

There is a difference to the door flap on the far side, the extra indentations on that top left corner look unusual to me, maybe a latch caught on there?

Further, a few moments diging give me this, a close up on the catcher section of the impala 2 (from and advert) note, no latch and no apparent sign of the lifting lever...



Any chance the rear flap on that impala is able to stay up on its own, or shows signs that it may of once had the mechanisim to do so?

Oh, and yes, the first one appears to be a Power Plus catcher to me!

Not sure what the deal is with that Impala catcher.
It looks like it has the remanants of what was a thumb lift, best seen in the shot from the back. Can only assume that there is meant to be something else in the catcher to hold the flap, perhaps something similar to what the sport/mustang has.

I have spare one piece rear door here, i was just going to put that on it.
Got it running and starting fine.
I have an eye out for bolt on handle brackets off a newer one. Got a mustang here that needs handles as well.




Is the power plus base the same as the Mustang and Sport, the ones with the bi fold handles and quick release hooks, is that right???
Same as the Impala size wise.

My 1976 Victa with 92908 Briggs has an "Impala" logo on it. The catcher is a standard type: thumb latch, and a lever on the side of the mower base for lifting the 2-piece rear door. Incidentally it has an air filter snorkel, and the Impala badge is on a sheet steel stamping that keeps debris from falling into the governor linkage, and is held in place by the snorkel elbow. So, what is the significance of Impala, if they put it on both 2 and 4 strokes? Just another Victa badge, introduced to confuse the collectors?

Hmmm Im even more confused now. Went down to the scrap yard today and look waht i found.





So the one i have must be early and this one is late. Same base as the Sport/Mustang G3-G4 era.

This one is now minus its mint front wheels.

Got another base from the scrap yard so i might just swap the motors over. Not sure yet.
I would like to use the base ive got, its aged well, i dont see any chips or breaks, only thing that will be wrong are the handle holes will be flogged out.

Yep, this is a touch confusing, this one looks like the one Grumpy has described, normal catcher assembly, but that first one is definatly different, the only area on door 1 that i could see the catcher having a latch to is the top left side, where the extra indentations are, maybe somthing latched there.

Maybe it latched upward independant of the catcher, and the catcher was without any mechanisim, or perhaps (just noticing the hanlde in that cataouge pic i found looks a little different) they trialed something where the release trigger was under the top handle arch, rather than infront of it.

Who knows, its defineatly unusual.

This is the actual add i found, its a link to a collection of adds that has been posted up here before, the rest of them are quite interesting too.

1972 Victa 2-Stroke 125cc Impala Brochure Cover

The blurb references the fact that it has a narrow chute (I'm guessing in compaison to the VC-160) maybe this has something to do with it, your second base is as far as i can tell, the same in shape as the green mustang you picked up, and the same catcher i would assume would fit both, is the rear of the first impala base anny smaller, would it need a smaller catcher.

I'm noticing the one in this add has the same indent around the victa badge, as your first one, i would hazzard a guess that your first one is the V126 1972-1973 4-Stroke Model, while the second one may well be the 73-74 V156 Model, the Mustang (which i beleve shares the base of your second one) came out for the first in the 73-74 lineup.

The Impala/Briggs in the picture above is quite similar to mine except for having a dipstick instead of a level plug. Base and colour scheme look the same. Seems like yours is probably later than 1976, since it has the dipstick, but it can't be much later or it wouldn't still be white I think. Yours has the same "Put your foot here, dummy!" sticker as mine. I have one of the small silver round mufflers screwed to the port (and it isn't very effective, despite looking new).

The state of your rear door worries me, it suggests that mine might rust too.

I take it yours has a Z-fold handle, the same as mine?

It could be 76, though I'm not sure if they still had the impala out by then (They were definatly still using that base style in 76) What year does the engine have stamped, and does it seem like it is the original engine? (I dont think impala's had anything but white engines)

Grumpy, as long as you are carefull, these doors will last, depending on the area, and how they are kept, they can rust like this, but occasionally brushing the grass of the back of them, and keeping the mower reasonably dry will stop it happening.

Nah the one with the rusty door was at the scrap yard Grumpy. I left it there. If i needed a mower to do my grass it probably would be worth the $25 hes asking. But not worth it if im looking at fixing it and making a few $$ out of it.


I might go back with my puller and get the crank boss off it.
And i was thinking about the rear axle to put it in the Vortex. It should be the same. But then i should have one around here somewhere.

Bob!, Some possiblt good news for you: That Power Plus Catcher may well be turned into a Self proppelled!!

Here is mine, an original one (I cant belive this didnt hit me before!)






Its a little hard to spot, but there is a 1/2 indent in the bottom, that this plate goes into, soften the bottom of the catcher to make a flat spot, and i reckon you could convert yours easily!

If you want more pics, or some measurements, let me know!!!

Cool, thanks for that.


I might be able to fold the tin/steel to get it to sit like that with the bottom the way it is.


Its a bit strange that the catcher is made like that.
But maybe not, i see the bottom semi circular bit thats to go over the 'axle' at the back of the diff. This is different to the non SP catcher.
Then the two tabs at the bottom of the sides that would sit on top of the axle. I suppose they help take the weight.