If DG's right, then transfer the valve cover if it will fit.

Thanks DG. Closer inspection on both engines located the vacuum tube needed to be on the dipstick on the old engine. The new engine's dipstick didn't have one, so I swapped it out. Kind of time consuming for a novice, but not terrible hard thankfully.

I installed the old fuel pump. Now it seems to run just fine once I get it started. My 45 min lawn took almost 3 hours to cut back down going very slow, but it'll look decent for my brother's graduation party in a few weeks now. ^_^

The downside is that it seems the fuel pump might be giving it too much gas when it tries to start, as well as at any idle speed other than the fastest. Seems to flood a bit on start and it takes jumping the battery to my truck and turning it over for quite a while before I can get the old girl going. Also, if I idle the tractor down, it doesn't take long for it to start coughing and sputtering and finally stalling. Definitely seems to be getting too much gas. /sigh.

I guess considering how novice I am at mechanical work, I'm doing OK, and I really appreciate the tips and feedback by the people here. Its been a tremendous help. Sometimes you just need that little nudge down the right path. Thus, if anyone has an idea about the tractor getting too much gas now... heh

Also, to answer your question K.i.S.S. I have a very hard time using phones. I have telephobia. I've also been a carpenter for many years and the screaming skill saws, hammers and everything else that goes with it has degraded my hearing, which has only made the phobia that much more real and consequential. Sorry. :(

Sorry about your phone phobia. I have tinnitus at 2600 Hz, so ATM beeps are a problem and I have problems hearing inteligible conversations on some phones, namely cell phones.

I hope you set the throttle plates correctly. You should make sure the choke closes at full throttle.

The carb seems to have an idle mixture screw which means it's only effective at idle which is where your having issues. Don't be afraid to play with it. What you can do is count the number of 1/4 turns until it bottoms out. That becomes your reference.

If you assumed a totally overhauled engine, usually the steps are something like. Turn right until it bottoms and back out 1.5 turns. Attempt to start and idle.

Since your running, you should only need to tweek it. Set the engine to idle and adjust till it's smooth.

Almost forgot to follow up... Finally got the machine running well. At one point I backed the darn screw out so far it fell out and was lost while running... but perseverance has paid off.

The mower belt shredded itself, so I replaced both and sharpened the blades. Dropping the mower deck was so much easier than I envisioned. Also gave her a new battery. Hopefully she'll be trouble free for a little while now!

Thanks again for all the help and tips given here. I really couldn't have done it without everything that was posted.