OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Victa Lawn Mower Frames Victa Corvette Model Year

Hi All,

I just bought a 2nd hand Victa Corvette 700 off gumtree on the weekend. Probably paid too much but I love it, it’s a 4 blade model with an alloy deck and a two stroke motor. I never saw myself buying a two stroke but after just a couple of uses turns out I’m a big fan of the power, noise, and smell.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what year it was made, the sticker on the air filter says C7A201G

Any help would be appreciated

Cheers,

A picture would definitely help narrow it down, but I would say around Y2K based on model number alone

To be 100% sure, you would have to pull the cowl and have a look at the date stamped near the carby

I did an image search and it looks to be early 000s or so. Good to see somebody taking a second look at using a Victa two stroke. Plenty of information to be found here. A keyword search in the Google box above will quickly yield results from the past on this site from some legendary contributors.

As has been discussed lately, the needle in the carburetor has traditionally been a weakness with the G4 plastic carburetor, but it's close to finally being cracked after 46 years since members Carbymaster and NormK have experimented with polishing the seat the needle sits in. No more sticking needles so far.

Did another carby yesterday MF and works perfectly.One strange thing I have noticed is when I turn the fuel on the first time they have dribbled out the primer bulb, give the primer cap a tap with the back of a screwdriver and it stops and so far none of them have been an issue after that first tap on the cap. Must be a slight seating issue but once settled working perfectly

I've put some images up below. From what I can gather it's probably a late 90's or maybe early naughties model, making it 20-25 years old. It still runs well, apparently it'd recently had the carby serviced, I'm not sure if that's the truth but the primer cap and bulb look new and it starts and runs well.

Were there many variations to the power torque engines or were they more or less the same through their production, are some better than others?

Can anyone shed some light on the difference between the Corvette and Mustang models, Victa still uses both model names but even on their website it's hard to determine what the difference is between them?

I think you are about right age wise - my bet would be 22 years old.

There are different iterations of the PT motor. From 84 - 98ish they were much better at updating the 'look' of the motor than anything else. That cowl came out in the mid 90s and was used through early 00's. Other designs were also used.

Back to the motors themselves, the main changes were transfer port size in the early days - motors being known by v35, v40 up to v50 or v55 for commercial models.

Around the time of yours they released the VSX motor - several changes to exhaust, porting, intake manifold and a clearly larger snorkel.

Later iterations included the ecotorque ve and vex motors - these are the only ones that feel down on power due to emissions strangulation. Many were governed down to 2700 rpm for emissions and noise reduction. Your garden variety briggs and stratton runs 3200 rpm. at 2700rpm a pt really isn't on its 'powerband'. Will mow fine but give up sooner in the thick stuff than an older model.

When your mower came out, there wasn't much to discern a corvette from a mustang except mustang will usually be an alloy deck and higher spec. you could get corvettes all the way down to steel deck 2 blade catch only (as you can today). Probably victa hedging their bets -corvette for GM fans and mustang for ford guys.

I have seen many a mustang look identical to yours

The main modern difference between modern mustang and corvette is the corvette uses a steel base while the mustang uses alloy

That's what my image search turned up.
Smart looking machine but wasn't overly impressed with that base's clipping collection performance which may be better with the four blade mulching disc of this later version. Both of the ones I had, had the two blade disc and would leave some clippings at the side and didn't fill the catcher well.
I hope your experience is different to mine.

The Mustang has generally always been the top tier model out of the domestic push mowers, except during the 1980s with the Powerplus and Vortex models which sat above it.
The Corvette was at the top of the tree for domestic push mowers a few years until the VC models arrived in 1970. It was then relegated to being a mid tier model.

Thanks for the info guys. So far I'm happy with how it performs getting the grass in the catcher etc but I've only used it a couple of times so far so we'll see. The blades don't feel particularly sharp and they seem stuck in position rather than being free to swing so I'll give them a sharpen. Hopefully the unit has a bit of life left in because I'd like to keep it for a while. I'd consider buying a couple more for future spare parts but I reckon my GF might kill me if I bring another mower home

Don't do what I and others have done and allow a collection to begin. It's like eating Pringles, once you start you can't stop! Just enjoy and appreciate that unit you've got and buy parts as required, new or second hand. If you do come across another, whatever you do, consult your girl first. Happy wife happy life.

Regards the blades, I would recommend not to sharpen them as you could take too much off one or more and upset the balance as they spin and you get a lot of centrifugal mass and any imbalance gets compounded at the high speeds they operate.
They will cut fine as they are. It's normal for them to not be razor sharp when new. You're not shaving with them. The high speeds they're moving (even at idle speed) will cut the grass fine. Just replace them when they're too worn or are damaged. That's enough.

As for the blades being immovable, try loosening the nut a little at a time until you are able to move it a few degrees with your hand. You don't want them too free and loose.
Disconnect the spark plug lead before working on the blades. You don't want it to start up from turning the disc. You will never have the reflexes to move your hand away in time!!