I wanted to see what the experts here thought of me repowering this snapper into a franken-mower. My first question is whether I should keep the snapper blade brake or convert to another brand of blade brake. The blade brake works good currently, but I�ve never pulled it apart to check it out. I�ve heard that it�s impossible to get parts for the Snapper blade brake and that the design had a few problems (I was told that the bolts get loose and parts fly off � sounds like a job for Loctite to me).

I�m wondering if I can buy a Honda motor or Briggs motor that has the right shaft for the Snapper blade brake? I was thinking about buying an older Honda mower with the blade brake and transplant the motor & blade brake. I know about the Honda exhaust pointing to the plastic Snapper grass chute and can take care of that problem with a little stainless tubing and a few nice welds.

Finally, what is the reputation of the Tecumseh two stroke? Is it worth anything on ebay or craigslist?

You can read my post about my similar project. There isn't much casual about it as the part is no longer made.

I posted the part number so that you can Google it to find the 2 guys who stock the part. It's a lot of money to spend on an old lawnmower. You could always just buy a blade adapter to eliminate that feature, but beware. You need to know 2 things: the length of the motor shaft if BBC opererated (2 and 7/16ths inch) or with an adapter instead (3 and 5/32 inch). Also, you need to know the diameter. On my Snapper it is 25 mm, on others it will be 7/8th inch.

Good luck searching,

QR
btw, I'd never bother to try and adapt someone else's BBC to a Snapper...big hassles.