I found this next to a pile of hard rubbish down the road yesterday. I found it complete with the catcher.
This is exactly how I found it yesterday, I just took some photo's of it today. One front wheel is buggered and the others have cracks all over the place. The deck also has a little repair where they all wear out on that side, and also a crack on the other side of the deck. It's missing the spark plug, I put the end of the spark wire near the head and turned it over and it looks like there is no spark at all, I tried moving the throttle control all the way down as maybe the kill switch is stuck closed or something, still no spark at all. Anyway i'll have to take a closer look at it another day to see what's happening with the spark.
Cheers!
Zip a dee doo dah, zip a dee ay, another trash picked Victa, hip hip Hooray!
Hi Converse, good score there, no spark on these is usually because the ignition module has failed because Victa put the module on the underside of the plate in direct line of rising heat off the motor, but even then they still lasted a long time. Good thing is just take a module off a Powertorque and hopefully you will then have spark again
G-day Converse, I could get some bits off that! The catcher and engine cover would put mine right, both of which have cracks! Well done in finding one of the best looking Victas ever. Little wonder they were a big seller at the time.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Hi NormK it looks very similar to my full crank Commando, I think it might be the same electronic ignition setup as this is from 1980 or 81, same era as my Commando. It could just be the module as you mentioned. I hope that's the reason they chucked it and it hasn't been straight fueled or something.
Hi Mowerfreak, yes it's a great looking machine this one. It's the first ever thumb latch catcher that I have ever found. The catcher does have some cracks and bits of plastic missing at the front lower lip. But it's not all that bad. Yes it looks like it's almost double the capacity of my regular black plastic catcher! lol I will have to get this one up and running and mow the lawn with it to see how it goes. Yes I can't believe I actually found one of these classic Victa Mustangs that featured in those early 80's Victa tv ads!
Cheers!
Zip a dee doo dah, zip a dee ay, another trash picked Victa, hip hip Hooray!
Converse, with these the module is not a problem, just have to modify the wire connector and you can put a PT one on. If after replacing the module and you still have no spark then the coil is the issue and the coil is specific to these side pulls and they are getting a bit harder to come by.
Well I had a bit of a look at this mower yesterday, I don't know but now I have a spark, maybe the day that I found it I didn't check properly or I wasn't turning the motor over fast enough? I moved the throttle control up and down a few times from end to end who knows. Anyway i'm glad it's got some sort of spark now.
I chucked some fuel in it and re-connected the fuel line to the carby. Straight away there was fuel leaking out the primer bulb hole and also from the primer cap seal. So it looks like this will need a carby clean and rebuild like the other ones that I have found.
Cheers!
Zip a dee doo dah, zip a dee ay, another trash picked Victa, hip hip Hooray!
It's a nice machine. I'm sure you will get it working. This Mustang looks similar the unit I have for almost 10years now I used to block my gate but didn't have chance to look at it or fix it. Due to other commitments, I have piles of mowers mostly VICTA 2-stroke. Attached some photos.
Thanks for sharing the link. it's the same Machine! It's been setting there for a while but just realised it's a Walton's. I wondered what the catcher looks like.
Hi Tyler, hi Carbymaster, The catcher for the Waltons store brand mower actually would have most likely been the shape shown on the Sunbeam version in Tyler's post above.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
Was quite interested at the time as I never knew they made the cowl in that colour.
In a topic a few months back, someone posted a pic of an export model that had a white version of this cover, for the South African market. This cover (black) was also used on the premium steel deck model, the Sabre, which included premium features like comfort grip handles and ball bearing wheels with the white wall looking 8" rears.
Ahh, if only victa had kept producing the thumblatch catcher series, they would be in better shape today!
