G'day MarkN, These springs/ends were used on some Victa double-fold handles in the period 1962, through to 1969.
All of their 'Victa' branded rear-catcher mowers in this timeframe used the spring/full width locking rod setup.
But the earliest version used compression springs with internal guides, mounted in slots in the handle! The change to the extension springs seems to have occurred by ~1965.
So your best bet, is to keep an eye out for a wreck to cannibalise for these bits.
Cheers, Gadge
"ODK Mods can explain it to you, but they can't understand it for you..."
"Crazy can be medicated, ignorance can be educated - but there is no cure for stupid..."
Thanks very much for the details, I'll keep an eye out, but was hoping the "ends" weren't just Victa specific.
I should have done some more research, I can now see the replacement in the Victa mid-1960s models of the CH80573 with the CH81728D "Spring Assembly", which I assume is just a revision to the Victa made Sunbeam version CH81728A.
CH82393A is the single ended version that slots into the handle, but I couldn't see if it was the replacement of an earlier version.
Was there ever a parts cross-reference guide/manual produced, that shows a particular part fits these models etc or an old part number is now replaced by another?
Can't help you with those part numbers unfortunately, as I don't have the Victa 'Green Book' Parts Manuals, which cover their models from 1955-1972. The spring and ends were listed as an assembly, not as individual parts, though. In any case, the chances of finding NOS parts would not be too good.
As far as I know, Victa only listed parts by individual mower model - there was never a cross-reference by part number as you describe.
Part number supersessions were mostly found in Victa's spare parts price lists, back then. The old part number would have a reference to the new one, in place of a price.
Victa did change their part numbering system in the 1970's, from numerical only format [x-xxx or xx-xxx] to the two-letter prefix/single letter suffix format. As I recall, the suffix letter denotes revision version.
Cheers, Gadge
"ODK Mods can explain it to you, but they can't understand it for you..."
"Crazy can be medicated, ignorance can be educated - but there is no cure for stupid..."