On 11/27/2017 10:51 PM, Steve Kraus wrote:
Looks OK to me.

Yeah, since posting I found a photo of the off-center T shaped key.

Did you check compression?

Sort of. I do not own a gauge; I will have to decide if one is worth
buying for this. I do feel it on my finger if I place it on the spark plug
hole not to mention hearing it wheeze at the exhaust. (Muffler is off for
now.) And it's harder to turn with the

Let's say the compression is bad. Would that prevent it from running at
all (as opposed to running badly or weakly)? What would be the likely
cause? Broken ring? Now that I think about it, when I had the head off
the cylinder did have some scuffs.

Neighbor bought a used mower from a friend and the air cleaner hold
down was cross threaded... long story short the cylinder was scuffed and
ruined. I got it to run but just barely. With yours I'd be checking
that and the valve clearance and I once had a lawnboy the old 2 cycle
type.. had spark and would fire and and sometimes run... I finally
notice a spark jump from the back of the coil to ground.. the coil was
cracked and the plug would fire when out of the mower but not under
compression. So you might try a really wide gapped spark plug to test
for something like that. Briggs makes a spark tester if you want to
spend a few bucks. Also make sure the tank is vented properly or drill
a small hole in the cap. Intake manifold gaskets... blah blah blah.
When all else fails try one of these Predator engines from Harbor
Fright.
https://www.harborfreight.com/55-hp-...arb-69731.html
.... wait till they are sale or use the coupons they always have. Happy
mowing !