I did the harbor freight engine too a couple of years ago. I believe it went right on. I think that I was able to use the same pully, but I think that I had to find another bolt to attach the reverse disc (different threading). edit: btw: I was just using it today. It is going on its second full year. It fired right up as usual and ran fine while I tilled my 30' x 35' garden. I just set it to run full speed. I have detached the throttle cable because it needs to be longer to fit the new engine. I almost never needed to run the engine more slowly anyway, but I was also looking on line today and found a 6' cable that I might get (but maybe not).

Thank you for the advices! I don't have the know-how or tools to replace the engine with anything that doesn't exactly fit where the old one was. Repair guy would have to do the work. (At least I've found someone who seems to know what he's doing, unlike the people I used to go to attached to a JD dealership. The old engine had no oil dip stick and the former folks were extremely vague as to how much oil to use--hence the wrecking of the old engine. I, too late, now know I should have been been keeping it brim-full, something I've never done and something they didn't do either when they changed the oil once while attempting to repair other problems!) I've located a reasonably priced and well-maintained replacement mower on Craig's list--should be delivered soon.

****We do, of course, have plenty of 15 mpg SUVs that meet all U.S. emission specs, but a 50 mpg diesel can't. There's something wrong there.**** The new BLUTEC diesels are 50 state legal as far as emissions go. They pass the California emissons laws. They are as clean as any other engine. And the Jetta with the new engine gets 44 MPG real world. No batteries, no regenerative systems to fail, no paying the tech for schooling, Just a good old fashioned engine that you can take to the local guy for repairs. But let's get some facts straight on the evil oil companies shall we? Exxon does not get one DIME for the oil from the Arabian Gulf. The Shieks get all the money, and pay the companies to do the dirty work. But that's different here in the USA. If you strike oil in your backyard, that oil money is all yours. So Exxon buys the land and spends the money to explore for the oil. They spend the money to extract the oil. They work the logistics to get the oil from the site and have it all in place before they get paid for it. Then they have to refine it. THEN they get paid. Big evil oil made an average of 8.2 CENTS per dollar in sales last year. EIGHT CENTS! The Government made TWICE AS MUCH on that same oil! And yes, EXXON may own wells here in the US and they made an OBSCENE profit of TEN CENTS per dollar earned! Yes, they earned 36 Billion last year in profits. But they had to sell 360 Billion gallons to do it! But it's estimated that 42% of Americans get money from those profits via 401Ks or company pension plans. Because those plans are indeed buying oil stocks every day. Wouldn't you? Now the land in the Gulf of Mexico is not private land. So I feel the Government should call it Federal Land just like out west and get all the oil money from the wells as is done in the Arabian Gulf. Pay the companies just like the Arabs do. The Treasury will fill up and we'll have our own oil.

I've learned a little about it from friends who've considered doing that or making their own biodiesel (different process). It's a little more complicated than just backing up the car to a vat of used oil. The oil has to be filtered well of fried food residue and anything else that has ended up in the vat. If you live in a colder climate, WVO won't be enough to start the car when it gets cold; you'll have to start it on diesel until the engine and fuel system are warm enough to guarantee that the WVO doesn't solidify on its way to the engine; you'll also need to purge the fuel system with diesel before the engine is shut down or you risk clogging the system. Depending on where you live, you still may be responsible for paying equivalent fuel taxes (a case about this recently popped up in Illinois). Oh, and many current turbodiesels and especially the upcoming BLUETEC (and variants) "clean diesels" -- at least right now -- specifically advise against using high percentages of biodiesel or WVO/SVO (Surplus Vegetable Oil) because some of the compounds in them are high enough to damage the clean-up components. You'll kiss your powertrain warranty goodbye when you go full biodiesel or WVO/SVO. It's still a very appealing idea, but right now it's a bit more complicated than just siphoning off free grease from the local deep-fry store. I am hopeful that a concerted effort to standardize properties of the fuel (possibly amending the fuel to address some of the problems) and those building vehicles to use it will make the process simpler.