Coming Back Together!

First off, all credit to my wife for solving the mystery part issue! Turns out the plastic piece is part of the flow of oil from the head back to the crank case...thats what I get for not taking enough pictures while i disassembled it!

So the motor is back together, and even sitting on the deck right now-sweet! Reassembly notes for those that come after me...

Head-I didn't put in new valve guides, but I did get some Valve Paste in my last parts order from Amazon and did a valve job. According to the internet, the valve seats should be a dull grey, and mine were, so I think I'm OK there. There was a very small amount of back-and-forth detectible in the valve guides when you wiggled the stems, but I'm going to leave it for now. I just can't find any examples of this motor having that sort of issue, and the stems were in spec as well.

Carb-Follow the video on the resources page! These carbs are really, really simple, and it looks like the key is cleanliness. Honestly, I probably didn't even have to take the carb apart, and I probably wouldn't again unless I suspected there was some kind of issue. I discovered the miracle of carb cleaner for the first time...and quickly discovered that I should be wearing rubber gloves when I use this stuff.

BBC- You're going to have to use the Strap Wrench again to hold the flywheel still while getting the Blade Brake Clutch back together. After the engine is on the deck and torqued down, sit the mower on its side on a pair of saw horse to make things easier.

Misc- Pay attention to the routing of the wires, they should be kept away from the cylinder head and exhaust. Take time to re-grease the drive shaft, and line the hole up as described in the manual.

So will she start? Tune in next week...

Tools used to re-assemble so far:
Strap Wrench
Valve Paste
Carb Cleaner
Rubber Gloves (Seriously guys, use gloves when you're using that carb cleaner stuff...)