I know how much work it was to refurbish that Snapper. Lawnmowers in general have to be "a labor of love" because they are so much work to restore. You did a good job on it. I hated to hear that it had already been parted out.

Thank you, yes it was an enjoyable project to tackle. I did use it several times before deciding to part it out. As much as I liked how it turned out I decided I liked original-condition snappers best. I'll clean them up as much as possible but no more stripping and painting. But its parts were donated to other good mowers. The engine went onto my '79 commercial, the wheels are on my '87 2-cycle wisconsin robin, and the red grip from the speed selector lever went onto another mower but I can't remember which! Pictured is the '79 that I really like using. I like the steel rear guard they used back then!

I think the old 130000 series flat head Briggs was a great engine. Lot of power and torque because of the large 13cid/200cc displacement, but did use a lot of fuel. The Honda GXV160 had comparable horsepower (5.5hp) but used about 25% less fuel. The Bigger Briggs Quantum (12cid/190cc) was also good and had comparable horsepower, but not quite as much "grunt" (torque).

I had Snapper like yours from the mid 80's but slightly later as it had the zone start. Had all of the other commercial goodies such as handle braces, steel wheels (ball bearing in front), wide handle bars, etc. Bought it from a co-worker about 1988 and got rid of it prior to moving from Los Angeles to Princeton in 2000.

True, these old briggs 13-series are monsters. Heavy too. Here's another I recently found and, instead of tearing down and reprinting, I just cleaned up. A nylon brush, simple green and a little orange gritty hand cleaner can go a long way. It cleaned up fairly easily but the engine was frozen so the owner let it go for only $20. A shot of wd40 in the plug hole fixed that, then took apart the starter clutch and cleaned that up and now it runs. It won't stay running long so a carb cleaning is next but it does run. And it cleaned up really nice, had to have been kept indoors. Got it from the original owners son, it's a 1983 model. The bag on it in the pic is one of my new-old-stock bags (just for display) but once the carb is cleaned I'll be using this one frequently.

For example, here's a pic when I first brought it home, before any cleaning....

...and after. Engine came off and a LOT of old dirt and grass was removed but the original finish is really shiny still for being 32 years old.

Nice cleaning job. Is that a crack in the top of the deck? Looks like a stress crack over by that bolt. Maybe it's just a scratch.

Thank you, no that's just the bracket holding part of the drive assembly to the deck. I haven't found any cracks in the deck so far.