If it's the Briggs I've worked on, the valve clearance can be LOT more
than that, and still run. The clearance is just so that when the engine
warms up, the valves get longer, and they might not close completely.

Try a dry spark plug. Gas in the cylinder probably flooded it all to hell. I
missed a lot of this thread. Did you just pull the cylinder head, or did you
have the crank shaft and cam shaft out?

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

"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in message
...

Well, I adjusted the valves, put it back together and tried it. The
compression was much better, but it still didn't start. It fact, it had
a terrible kick-back. Which was due to the flywheel key being sheared
and the timing being off by 90 degrees! Which was very likely the only
problem all along, even though the compression did test poorly.

The key replaced, it still doesn't start! Arrrgh! It has spark & won't
start even with gas squirted in the cylinder.

Well, maybe it's the valve clearances - that's the only thing that's
changed, right? They're close: the exhaust should be .009 - .011 & it's
11 (12 is nogo). The intake should be .005 - .007 & it's 8+ (9 is
tight). Is the clearance that important? Or is it likely something
else entirely? Although I don't know what that could be.

Befuddled,
Bob