How do all you know it alls?The mower in question is an original.The only thing you're right about is the handle brackets being different.The original was bent and not worth saving.They started using this style handle bracket in 1972.The id tag did not get sand blasted it was damaged by acid at some point by a previous owner.The cover plates where made in plastic and aluminum.Early run 69's had aluminum and later runs had plastic.The available replacements where plastic. My mowers are always refurbished and they command a fair price.If you don't like the price don't bid Charlie.If you want new go buy new.If you want unrestored vintage machines for 10 buck then you'll get junk.If you where that smart Charlie you'd already know your air filter fuel leak is a bad needle and seat.Get informed and educated before you spout off in speculation not knowing what your talking about people.

iowaboy ... I was cutting grass under moderate / light load. I've since re-tested the 10323 with stock jets ... 1999 10323 "E" Duraforce ... burned 12 oz of gas in 38.67 min - 0.31 oz/min ** Correction to previous 10323 test ... carb had a #67 drilled main jet & #78 drilled pilot jet. Note that this later test was done starting out with a drained fuel bowl AND tank before adding 12 oz of gas. I first added just a few oz. of gas to see how well it ran ... it ran good so I cut grass until it died. Then added my 12 oz. and ran the test on an already warmed up engine (figure warm-up time it another variable that should be eliminated for fair comparision). Realizing my first 10323 & 10424 tests may or may not have had gas in the carb fuel bowl, I re-tested the jetted 10424 just as I did the 10323. 2003 10424 "E" Duraforce ... burned 12 oz gas in 24.2 min. - 0.49 oz/min (#68 drilled main jet & "40" Suzuki Pilot Jet) This was a 19.5% increase of fuel useage ... empty vs. possibly full fuel bowl plus grass cutting load was more moderate even sometimes heavy this time. What is amazing is the comparison between these two latest tests ... stock 10323 @ 0.31 oz. / min. vs. jetted 10424 @ 0.49 oz. / min. ... a wopping 58% difference !! You also got to figure the 10323 has a drive load on it (including added higher speed 10550 gears) and the 10424 does not. The jetting on the 10424 is the absolute minimum (next larger drill size on main jet and "40" Suzuki jet is slightly smaller than the next larger #78 drill size). Also the 10323 has a lot more hours on it, but always ran perfect without even a hint of surging before jetting. The 10424 surged real bad when new and is only on it's 2nd mowing season ... rotated with my other mowers so you might say it is hardly even broken in. Next week I'll re-jet the 10323 so it is identical to the 10424 (1st test it was actually jetted one size richer on both main & pilot) to see how jetting really affects this mower. 7024 & 10301 had been run dry prior to my tests (7024 is retired and gets used only a few times a season / the 10301 still has the snail-speed gears in it so I don't really enjoy using it) so the only diffence in their tests and these new tests would be running time from a "cold start". Doug

"Timeless, and still modern looking, in my eyes." It's one of only a few products that can say that. Even though they are decades apart, my 7263 and my R7070 have eye-appeal that fits any decade. Except now it seems that lawn equipment has to have these ooshy-swooshy designer lines where it's hard to tell where the deck stops and the shroud begins. Yes, I'm a nut also. My friends and neighbors openly remind me of that. If I hadn't found this forum, I'd still have to occaisionally feel guilty about that. For me, it has to be Turf Green. I never could get into gold or the white ones. I do like the yellow thrown into the mix :) My fleet: R7070 - F-series current workhorse (yellow) 7229 - F-series backup workhorse (turf green) 7263 - D-series current resto project 1490 - blower SSI - trimmer 720E - Duraforce snowthrower Spare parts are in an official LB Dealer Parts cabinet on the wall.

The 2000 LB 10324 that my dad bought in some local (not national) store in late 1999 did not come with mulch plate and fan...only grass-bagger and side-discharge gear were included. My dad passed away in 2002, so I began using the 10324 and thought it was a dog because of how hard it often was to start. Then I found you all here on GardenWeb in 2004 and that has made all the difference. I learned then about such problems as the infamous intermittent CDI and the leaky gas tank. I bought the mulch plate and fan, but discussions here led me to think there was little value to the fan when mulching. I had never installed the fan even after owning it nine years. In 2013 after 14 mowing seasons, I finally had to replace the self-propel drive belt. I also found that the journal bearing for the input shaft to the transmission had severe wear which had resulted in misalignment of two gears and very bad erosion of their teeth. I had to replace all three of these transmission parts. So, while putting everything back together, I decided to put that mulch fan on as well, just as a lark. I immediately noticed that I no longer needed to stop periodically and scrape away grass debris under the deck that occurred especially when there was any moistness to the grass. I've now mowed several times in 2013 and again in 2014,,,finding the same result: The underdeck area stays perfectly clear of packed grass debris since I installed the mulch fan. I rate installing the mulch fan to be the second best improvement to the operation of my 10324 that I've made in 15 years, ranking only below the replacement of the defective CDI unit in 2004. I love this mower! What I've learned on GardenWeb from you and other knowledgeable people since 2004 has made most of that possible. Thanks to all!