Well here was my thinking on it. If I repowered with the 23HP Vanguard the 982 was no longer "Original" + speaking with another member that did the Vanguard repower(with a new engine) he had about $1700 in everything when he was done. If you can find a Onan B48G in decent condition and rebuild it you should be under that. You will then have 35 year old technology under the hood that gulps fuel.
I wouldn't do that for any other machine except for a 982 or the 19xx machines. My 982's won't get run much except for a plow day or 2 a year and playing around the house.
