OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Victa Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers Victa Cortina - 68-72 - G3 Carby

Giddy all,
Just cleaning up a Victor Cortina mark 1 for my daughter to use, cannot seem to find any pics
Of one on here, (prob don't know how to use the search function yet), I am looking for shots of the back of the mower where the catcher attaches, I don't have one and need to mod one to fit, any info would be great. Would like to add some pics of mine, just don't know how yet.
Cheers.
Kirky2

Giddy all, still can't find photos to post pics, the engine number of the block in front of carbs is 1 70 1 1384 1 I hope this means something, it's a mark 1, 70 series, cortina wind up start.
Cheers
Kirky2

Giddy all
One more, I'm prob doing this wrong but I think it worked
Cheers
Kirky2

Nice project but I can't quite work out why you want shots of the back of a mower where the catcher fits, when you have the mower right there. Perhaps you mean shots of a catcher and the part of it that fits to the mower?

that model has 2 metal hooks on the handlebars and the catcher hangs from them. like this corvette on ebay.

If you go to the search function and just put in Cortina, then older than 1 week, newer than 5 years in the drop boxes you will find articles on your mower including one from RodeoBob who has some of the catchers for Cortina and Corvette mowers apparently.
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...;Words=Cortina&Search=true#Post55900

As Gizmo said there should be brackets on the bottom part of the handles for the catcher to hang off.Here is a pictures of the back of one of my Corvette's.Same mower just a different Cowl and a different name.


The second picture isn't my mower it was on eBay late last year,but you can see how the catcher fits.Need anymore pictures let me know and I'll pull my mower out and take some pictures.
This is it from a sales brochure.

Giddy all,
From the above photos, can we tell what year this one is, and is it around the right age for the body?. The 1's at either end and centre seem to be part of the moulding, but the no's are stamped in.
Cheers
Kirky2

Hello Kirky2, Gizmo, Aussietrev, Members & Guests,

I've recently posted some of the Victa catalogues:-
https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=152

My best guess is the 1969-70 or the 1970-71 lawnmower season.
Maybe one of the Victa experts will confirm this.

Hope this helps.
-----------------------------
JACK.

The engine is 1970-71 model year, and I would say it's original.

Impulse starter, G3 carby, no decompressor, and 'boxy' VC-style muffler are all correct for that model year.

The '68-'69 had a 'torpedo fishtail' style muffler and G2 carby, but I can't find a definite reference for the '69-'70.

Yes, I note that this model ran over two seasons:
that is, 1969-70; 1970-71.

The distinguishing feature here is the 'boxy' muffler.
This 'Thru-Baseplate' muffler was introduced late in the 1970-71 season (on this model);
meaning that this machine would date from sometime before September, 1971.

Hope this helps.
-----------------------------
JACK.

Giddy all,
Thanks for that, I first thought the 70 in the No. may have been the year, then I thought ,no it's a series 70, it's strange that when you look up the replacement parts manual, 55 - 69, there is no mention of the Cortina only the Cortina 2 that first appeared in 64-65 then 67-68 and 68-69, which finishes that manual, but still no mention of cortina, I would have thought cortina before cortina 2 or a base model with no extras, thanks for dating it for me, now on with the do up.
Cheers,
Kirky2.

Hi Kirky,

Yes, what you say would be somewhat true.
However, the Cortina 2 came before the Cortina to designate it as a '2' stroke, and
to keep the naming consistent with the Corvette 2 when the Corvette '4' 4-stroke
came on-line.

I might add, to correct myself, that your model (with the Series 70 MK 1 engine),
continued in the 1971-72 season (1972 catalogue); whereas the VC's received the
Mark 2 decompressor engines for that year.

It would only be in the 1972-73 season (1973) that the Cortina would get the Mk2
engine.

I think that's right.
----------------------------------
JACK.

'Cortina 2' only referred to its having the 2-stroke engine. Not a 'Mk 2' version.

Victa's convention in those days, was to add a 2 or 4 suffix to the model name to denote whether it was fitted with a 2 or 4 stroke engine.

Edit: Beaten by a minute!

Hi Kirky2 not sure what year you were going off but from my knowledge it is an original Cortina engine that's the 1 in front of the 70.The 70 is in fact the year of manufacture,so it's from 1970 with a 125cc engine with no decompressor.It should have had a G2 carby as the original,my guess is it won't have now.
There were 4 models of this model,(I know that sounds silly)They run from 1969 to 1972.
Models were.
69VE-1-2-3 1969-70
69VE 1970 1969-70
70VE 1970-72
71VE 1970-72 all run the same victacode V63.
There were very little differences between each model more to do with dates and different part numbers.I can't find anything different's in there physical appearance,and the fact that Victa changed the part numbers for the bases.It's probably just things like (and I have seen this before) extra ribs in the base to strengthen it.It's possible that's why there are 4 models.Yours really could be any one of those 4 as they all covered 1970.
I hope that helps you with the identifying of your mower.

Giddy all
https://www.pushmowerrepair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Victa_Model_Info_1955-to-1969.pdf
Found this when I was first looking for info, seem to show all parts for all models in the early range
Cheers
Kirky

That's just part of a section from the green book.

Hello Blumbly,

as a novice to reading Victa models I have a question for you.

First, I understand that the '70' designates year of manufacture - I'm learning!
However, I can't see how the '1' signifies the 'original Cortina engine'.

If this is a 1970 machine, it would have had a G3 Carby, and the box muffler
fitted late in the 1970-71 year (according to my records).

I might add, the 1971 Catalogue(linked above) covers all Cortinas built
from Spring 1970 to end of Winter, 1971. That catalogue says that all Cortinas
had the G3 and the hush tone boxed muffler.

I am keen to learn. Any clarification would be welcome.

-------------------------------------
JACK.

Not sure what your question is.
I have some documents here that were given to dealers in regards to engine numbers matching for certain models for the series 70's.On the top of that document 1 is for Cortina.
Not sure what you are talking about with the muffler.I didn't say anything about that.
In my 2 copy's of the Green Book the carby's part number is listed as the same number as the G2.
Which was also the same as the same year model Corvette that I have which also has the G2.
I'm not the one who is an expert on carbys (unfortunately he doesn't come on anymore)but you will find there isn't many sales brochures that list the G2,I guess they didn't run them for very long,one could even say they are rare.Maybe they had problems with them (I don't know),but I can assure you they did exist.I even had the same model with one,but unfortunately it wasn't worth saving.

This leaves 6 months prior to spring 70. Since we dont know its exact build date, then its very possible the G2 Was in its transitional stage and being phased out.

But from my limited knowledge also, I had always thought that the G2 had been deleted before 1970?

The best way to be sure is to check the manuals for Corvette As a comparrison and see what year the G3 started, as this will indicate how far the G2 went for both models.

Im not clear on the Term Cortina 1? I thought the Original Cortina was just Cortina" and the later models were cortina 2...2St and Cortina 4st?


Just curious:)

Hi Blumby and contributors,
Mate, we'd love to see those dealer documents!
Would you be prepared to scan them for the record?
It would certainly help us folks in understanding the facts, myths, and mysteries of these numbers.

All very interesting.
-------------------------------
JACK.

No as the document was not mine and I didn't have a scanner then so it is nearly just me typing it out and printing it myself.
So it's not an authentic copy and I haven't done that due to people would just ask questions of why,what,where etc and I just don't want questions like that re-guarding it.
So sorry as I have already in the past had such questions about it's authentication and I just don't want to go through all that again.In-fact this is the first time in a long time I have used some information from it.As it's just a piece of paper with model and numbers on that I typed out from the (original of-course) copy,but it seems that knowledge is power (Which seems to scare people)and I have commends that I just made it up etc,and I just don't want to hear things like that again.
I have however over the years noticed that mowers that I and others have found do match these numbers.
It doesn't cover all series 70's but it does cover a lot.
I wished I had a scanner back then but I didn't,and I would not know where it is now.

Gidday all,
Sorry to drop in again,lol, I just pulled the carby of the mower to look for any numbers or brandings, after going over it with a magnifing glass the only brandings found was just behind the red priming button (had to push it down to find this) is a small circle , or large c with a z inside and written across that is DRHZINC, would have been nice to find a G2 or G 3, or even Victa, guess the carby must have changed at some stage.
Cheers and thanks for all the help.
Kirky

The G2 carby was a short-lived model, and Victa's first governed 2-stroke carby. Very rare these days.
They, and the G3 type, were never marked with their type number that I've seen.

Yours is definitely a G3; the plastic air vane and associated bits are definitive.

Wasn't possible to retrofit these bits to a G2 carby, which had a metal air vane, and didn't incorporate the engine cutout switch. Mowers with the G2 fitted had the cutout switch in the throttle control, and a long wire that ran to it, routed in parallel with the throttle cable.

What Gadge said....:)



The carby will be accurate or close enough for your mower as its definately G3 as stated. The letters C circling Z is simply the manufacturers name, CERTZINC" And does not determine its model Type.

So don't worry,as your carby is of the correct type and accurate enough to use in your restoration.

Now hopefully with the confusion aside, you can get to building that engine! Lols.

OK then.Now we worked it it was one of these models.
Models were.
69VE-1-2-3 1969-70
69VE 1970 1969-70
70VE 1970-72
71VE 1970-72 all run the same victacode V63.
OK well here's some paper work to prove my theory.

See the model code of the carby 3-260 that's the G2 code.
See below.

So as I said it could have ran both carbys depending on exactly which model it is.It won't be the 567 model as per the date on the crankcase but it could be the 69VE model.
The G2 ran from 1968 to 1970 so the time frame is there as well.Now that would be near on impossible to work to out exactly which model it is.So as I said before it could have had one.
Kirky2 I'd still use the G3 and happy to call it right but I'm just saying to could have had both.I won't add anymore to this carby topic as I don't want you to get confused and or caught up in any argument about it.I just wanted to show why I said it could be.
Thanks.

Hello Blumbly,
Had the carby to bits again this morning because when it put the mower all back together again, the blo,!?y thing peed juice all over the place, pulled to bits re-adjusted the float and needle, now works like a charm, but now the tap leaks like a tap, ah you know what I mean, gotta find a new tap for her, in the meantime just mowed my lawn with it, gotta do something about a catcher, never been that dirty or sweaty, you want to know why they got rid of the down point boxy exhausts, (in my mind anyway) the heat from under the mower and then thrown back towards the pusher is almost unbearable, anyway the old girl run like a clock.
Cheers,
Kirky.
PS, the carby above has to many parts compared to mine, but that discussion is over.

If it has the brass plunger tap, the seal/s should be replaceable.

If it is cork, and there's a slotted screw set in the pull knob, replacement corks are available. Otherwise it will have two o-rings, and these are also available. Check the ODK Online Shop for both.

I'd grab a spare set of the nylon throttle shaft gears too, as these are getting hard to find.

Giddy Gadge,it's the tap on the petrol tank, it is all plastic, has a red lever that turns from off to on, it's is leaking from that red lever. Things I learnt today- some rattle can paints, don't like petrol, a good catcher is worth its weight in gold (not that I want to pay that much for it), mesh catchers leave you covered in dust and grass, the heat from these old girls is very extreme, great for winter though, a freight train with no exhaust is quieter than a 125 cc motor with a box exhaust and last of all, I'm not as young as I was when I last used one of these mowers, could you imagine using one of these with out ear muffs now.
Cheers
Kirky2

Ah OK, you'll have to replace it with a new one then.

Unless you can pick up a secondhand right angle brass tap to keep it original, but they're getting a bit rare.