Thanks for the report, Paul. I'm not surprised that it isn't economically viable to pay someone to fix a worn out decompressor: that is why Tecumseh didn't make it repairable. (However, one of the other OHV models did have a dismantlable decompressor, of the same general design as yours. Sounds as if they may have been a little uncoordinated internally.)
Of course the upside of getting a new camshaft is that you could then tell us how long a new pin is, and this thread would then inform future Tecumseh owners on how to tell if their camshafts are too far gone, without them having to do all the work you've done. They'd just compare the lengths of their pins, with your worn out one and your new one. If they were getting close to your worn out one, it would be new camshaft time. I realise that isn't much consolation to you, having been stuck with the worst of both worlds: doing all the work, and needing a new camshaft anyway.
FWIW, I had it in mind that the new pin would be turned up out of a piece of ordinary silver steel (which I believe the Americans call "drill rod") and flame hardened with an ordinary barbeque torch - mine cost me about $5, with replacement cans of gas $1 each. I use one for my flame hardening, because I'm way too cheap to pay huge rental fees on an oxygen bottle. (I used an oxy-propane set for years, until they jacked up the rental on the oxy bottle. Now that set sits in the junk cabinet. It's a bit irritating not being able to oxy-cut, and not being able to heat up large objects, but being a cheapskate is a key part of who I am - kind of a personal value.)
