Thanks all for the welcome and advice. I can't get over how incredibly over built these vintage marvels are or how cheaply made current machines are. It's amazing the contrast.
Boy I wasn't expecting the weight of this machine especially the big cast iron grill in front. Yikes. What I wasn't expecting to see is pinholes in the mower deck! That deck has pretty thick steel but I noticed in a few spots it's rusted through. I am thinking about scraping off the gunk on the underside and welding in some 1/8" plate in spots.
I'll post some pics later as I think they need to be resized to post them. It feels good to own a small piece of Americana in lawn tractor form.
