The one time I worked on a 5 HP briggs, it was a log
splitter that was way under powered. I cleaned the valves
with a wire brush, and it ran fine. I'd borrowed the
splitter, and he was pleased to get it back with an oil
change and better power.

Yours looks a bit worse than the one I remember. Well, a lot
worse. I remember that valve seat cutters from Belsaw were a
bit expensive. I don't remember off hand, how to get the
seat out, and replace. Heat, drive it with a pin punch,
probably.

Just for giggles, if that was my machine I'd wire brush the
seats and valves. Check valve clearance, put it back
together with new gasoline, and see how it runs. But, that's
me. I'm sure others will advise you to "do the right thing"
and have a good shop do it up. If you have the valve job,
set of gaskets, oil change, and so on. Then, you should have
years of service left.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in
message ...
The engine on my leaf vac wouldn't start & I diagnosed low
compression.
It's a 5HP B&S. Here's a picture of the exhaust valve
seat (after
lapping):
http://home.comcast.net/~bobengelhardt/ValveSeat.jpg

Does it (the seat) need to be replaced? The B&S Repair
Manual says that
after replacing a seat, it needs to be cut. How important
is the
cutting? I'm not about to buy a cutter & I'll take the
engine to a
repairman instead.

Thanks,
Bob