The job is over and done with!!!!! Well, the worst part of it was figuring out how to get the keepers out. Having never seen them before, and the service manual having a poor picture, I didn't know what I was looking for. I poked around and pulled on the Retainer (don't know what it's really called, but it sits over the keepers) for about 45 minutes before I realized the keepers were under the retainer thingy. Then, the next valve came out in about 1 minute. I lapped the valves, checked the clearances, replaced the weird filter thingy, cleaned up the cylinder head surface and put all new gaskets back on. Put everything back together and...turned the key. Success!!!! My worst nightmare was that it wouldn't start and I would have screwed something up. I drove the tractor around for a few minutes and, it could have just been my imagination, but it seemed much more peppy. I started out pretty easily in third gear on a flat surface with it running just slightly over idle. It also went up hill in third better and with less laboring than previously. I then did a dry compression check and got just around 120 psi, give or take a few psi. The true test will be when I have to cut the grass, as that was when I was really noticing difficulties. I will run it a bit longer and then retoque the head bolts. Sorry for the really long post, but I just wanted to thank everyone for their help, it motivated me to try something I had never done before. To everyone who's been putting this off, or any other repairs you've never tried before, give it a shot, you'll be really happy you did. Did it take me WAY longer to do this than someone with experience...absolutely...but, I learned a lot, had fun, and feel a great deal of satisfaction in taking on a new task and giving my old tractor some new life. Again, thanks to all for their advice, helpful tips, and inspiration/motivation.
Jason
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