Notice the position of the exhaust relative to where the operator sits. I would think one would get light-headed in a hurry using this mower.

Yeah, that's poorly designed, and downright dangerous on a windless day.

I don't think it was built that way - look at the picture on the cover of the manual - the exhaust must have been directed down. They would have never built it with the exhaust pipe interfering with foot placement or the exhaust being directed up toward the operator like that. Other than that, a beautiful restoration.