G'day Chris86,
Before you tear it down any further than as shown in the pics, do a basic compression check. Spin the flywheel backwards, and see if it bounces back off compression.
Parts availability for these small side-valve Briggs engines is generally good, as they didn't change much over ~30 years.
However, it can be pretty annoying to have one that has had minor external parts ratted off it, as some of these parts are priced a bit extortionately.
And you may get a shock if you price a new Honda, good though they are. The current Briggs 'sloper' engines are nearly as good, and a lot cheaper.
Keep in mind that it would be very easy to over-capitalise this machine, given its rarity. Even common wear parts like drive sprockets are not likely to be available.
Hi Gadge,
Yeah it certainly has good compression. The bloke I grabbed it off said it was running and continues to run although difficult to start due to issues he suspected were related to the carby, but given it's poor maintenance, I dare say there was more to it than that. With that said, compression appears to be great. Parts appear to be rather cheap and I can completely understand the reasoning behind over-capitalizing (I was originally going to replace the motor), but at the same time, a huge part of me isn't concerned about the cost more so than I am the learning experience by doing this. By the sounds of the information you have provided along with others, it's obvious it's likely to be cheaper in the long run to buy a new motor, but having never having done this to a motor before, the cost of learning is cheap.....at least that's my reasoning, as twisted as it may sound.
EDIT: The engine had less than 100mm of oil in it - dirty at that. I believe these are alloy blocks and they don't like low or dirty oil?
Not sure what damage if any is done, or whether it's worth just pulling it apart and giving it a good clean up and rebuild from scratch?
