I have a 79 "V212P" Snapper. The snapper site is tough to negotiate but if you put in 79 -- 21 inch -- walk -- 3.5 horse then hit search something should come up. I tried 77 but nothing came up on the site.
Good luck

'4oz of motor honey cured the problem'

That's a lot of STP! If the deck serial number starts with '72', maybe it was made in 1072?

Four ounces of motor honey in a sump that small??? I would not run the engine with oil thickened that much. Just run the engine on whatever oil is recommended for it. Unless you are looking for a repair project, I would not bother rebuilding the engine if it starts and produces enough power to cut the grass.

I meant '1972' not '1072'. All the lawn mowing in 1072 was done by four-footed creatures.

The engine is an early 1977 production so the mower is a probably a mid to late 1977. biglumber is gonna be close with his own mower as "V" was a common Snapper designation for an aluminum deck.

I used a 1975 version of this mower for 13 years, and my dad was the original owner. It has essentially the same drive system as modern Hi-Vacs, which I consider a good thing. The two issues I found over time are: 1) it's not designed for mulching, and 2) late-model engine compatibility is a hassle. I never tried a Gator blade or Ninja blade on this mower, and maybe with one of those it would have mulched reasonably well. But the deck isn't made for mulch and the newer steel decks are noticably better. The chute interferes with most moder engines. I think OHV engines are out of the question due to their length. An L-head like a Quantum or Tecumseh might be fittable if you remove the shroud and fuel tank and use a tank mounted to the deck on its own bracket (a la Toro Proline 21"). In about 1992-93, Snapper released this deck with Quantum that had a corner of the tank cut off - it was painted black and called the "Classic." The manuals for this mower are found on Snapper's literature page if you negotiate the search.

PS - I wish I hadn't had to let mine go when I moved.

The Briggs Classic/Sprint/Quattro flathead are basically the old engine that came on the mower. The cut off tank corner is a Quantum Power and used on newer Snappers as well as a lot of Toro's. Problem with the cut off corner tank is they are intended for engines oriented with plug forward while the old Snappers had the plug oriented to the left side.

The Sprint/Classic/Quattro will work as intended but if someone needs them they had better get it fast as these engines will surely be emissioned into history soon.

N_W, thanks for the added engine info. For the original poster, it may be best to go ahead and buy a Sprint/Classic/Quattro as he advised, since those are cheap and your engine is on it's way out. BTW, I found the manual for the 1992 Snapper AP21509B "Classic," which which is very much like yours except it shows the Quantum engine I was talking about.

Owner's manual: http://manuals.snapper.com/Manuals/manuals/24332.pdf

Service manual for all V-series mower (I think):
http://manuals.snapper.com/Manuals/manuals/07001.pdf

Parts manual for the Classic:
http://manuals.snapper.com/Manuals/manuals/06192.pdf

According to the parts manual, the Quantum model # for this engine is 124702, with the mfr type 3251. If you could find _that_ engine and then get the throttle cable indicated in the parts manual, that would be the choice setup, I think. The Briggs parts manual for that engine (among others similar to it) is:

http://www.briggsandstratton.com/pdf/illustrated_parts_list/100/MS5839.pdf

And that manual shows the fuel tank as being part# 494358, "TankÂFuel(Black, Special)". You might be able to buy just that tank and retrofit it to any Quantum motor (but try at your own risk). If so, then your search for a good Quantum engine could be easy.

With the old aluminum deck, getting aQuantum to fit is going to be problematic. Even with the cut away tank, the discharge part of the casting is higher on a V21, which will cause interference problems.

I'd suggest you focus on a Briggs Classic or even a 130000. Both should fit with spark plug at 9:00 O'clock position. While you might be able to drill deck and rotate engine to 12:00 o'clock, my long past experience is that it doesn't work well with aluminum Snappers.

Although the proper 130000 for an old Snapper has a 7/8 x 1" stepped shaft, you can probably use a 1" shaft, buy a 25mm hub, and have a machine shop overbore the hub to 1" (25.4mm). Although more money up front, this will allow you to use current model blades, rather than the old "large hole" blades.

Good luck.

I loved the old 130000 engines, still think they were the best commercial engine. But they have long been emissioned out of the system close to ten years now. Unlikely to find a new one these days. Their weight would also tear up the handles of a non-commercially braced handle model deck.

But if a new or good used one was found and the handles have or have added the commercial bracing the 130000 was used on the "A" decks.

Right, if you can find NOS engines somewhere, by all means grab one. I think the old flathead Wisconsin Robin 5hp 4-stroke came one these as well. BTW ggoyeneche, when I discussed fitting a Quantum engine to this deck, I meant that it should be turned so the plug faces left, just like all the engines that were ever fitted to it. It works that way if the tank is shaped correctly, and indeed was clocked that way when Snapper offered it on this deck as the "Classic" in 1992.

I have one of these mowers. It is the first mower I ever used. At one time I had a Quantum on it. That motor did indeed have the special tank. That tank will fit on any of the square tank Quantum engines and probably the new ones too. It will clear the bagger just fine. Also it has been my experience that the shaft on these is a straight 7/8". The newer ones are 25mm. Neither is stepped. Both diameters will need to be 3 5/32" long. Or about 2 3/4" from the oil seal on a Briggs. You can use either as long as you get the right pulley and blade adapter. I always use the square Snapper blade adapter. The mounting bolts will line up just fine. no need to redrill any holes if you use the Quantum engine with the special tank.

Quantum and Quantum Power are two different engines. The original Quantum has long passed but when these square tanks first came out Snapper put a notch in the chute to clear it. No such notch is available for the "A" decks however.

Its good to know the cut off tank Quantum Power will work with the old "A" deck. Sure gives more options for owners of those older decks. Many felt they vacuumed better, being a cast deck the tunnel was a bit higher then they could do with stamping out a sheet of steel.

kevinkeli,
i know this is an old post, but biglumber is right about the snapper site being tough to negotiate. atleast it was for me trying to find a manual through their search with numbers i'd type in. i e-mailed them through the "contact us" box with my numbers and they e-mailed me back an attatched owner/operator manual that i printed out. the next day!! as far as parts diagram, go to jackssmallengines.com. they'll have an IPL for you. the thing is, they don't stock too many old snapper parts, but atleast you'll get the numbers. hope this helps if you still need it.
pete

Another thought; before treating the oil with STP/'motor honey' on older smoking machines, it is worthwhile to use an internal engine cleaner which will free the rings if they're stuck. They range from aggressive to mild - Kano 'Kreen' and Chemtool B-12 are 'hot' while Seafoam is moderate and Marvel Mystery Oil gentle.

I have a 92908 snapper engine fresh rebuild on engine +.20 valves and carb kit, for sale. It may need a new base gasket might of got crinkled, she leaks a bit of oil but doesn't burn any this one has the vertical pull recoil which is brand new old stock. The whole rebuild was done may 08. Runs like a champ just the leak. I have another steel deck I mounted a honda 5.5 on, works like a champ and the bolt circle on the recoil is equal so you can spin it anyway you want. The older snaps mount sideways so repowers make it hard. My aluminum is model v212ps. hope this helps

i am looking for the year ofsnapper model v21op.

sn 1554468 It has 3 fordward & arev.