Dear god man, bring it back.
1972?…are you in the dark ages?
That rust alone could give you an infection. That engine is likely a pollution nightmare…run
that thing for more than 15 minutes and you may just burn off what remaining
ozone we have left! That paint likely
has lead in it, you better white tent the thing, jump in a protective suit, get
a sample and have it tested ASAP! Good god realize there is no blade stop and
further a child milling about may just cut themselves on your home made
chute! And lets be honest, it was NOT
designed to mulch! Those leaves are NOT
going to be shredded humanely as they are with today’s ultra modern
systems. Be careful of that old cord…it
could snap and put your eye out. Horrible…just
horrible. And I bet you are just the kind to use one of
those simple cap open/close gas cans.
Get a new one….engineers need work too! No, sorry , that thing is an environmental
nightmare the like we have not seen in ages!
For only $399 you can get something modern/safe and new that will give
you a solid 3 years of use!

I can't tell if you're joking or serious.

...was joking of course...whatever happened with your 1972 beastie...

It's still going. A little underpowered with only 2.5hp but it does the job.

Ha...Good for you.