I'd have a back up plan, just what your considering. This has been my first year of starting seeds and I find it very interesting. I doing seeds outside now, giving them morning & afternoon sun from the beginning..Their doing well, however I think I'll still buy my plants for the garden.. If I was you I would get my seeds going, really isnt going to hurt anything if you don't use them

***" if one of the jets were clogged wouldn't I need more choke, not less throttle"*** Actually, closing the choke plate is very similar to closing the throttle plate as far as total volume of induction AIR is concerned. The difference between closing the choke and closing the throttle is that closing the throttle will decrease the amount of venturi vacuum applied to the carb bowl (that incites fuel to flow out of the fuel bowl through the jets) and into the intake plenum. Closing the choke (with throttle open) INCREASES the venturi vacuum applied to the carb bowl, causing more fuel to flow out of the bowl and into the intake plenum. You really do need a genuine spark tester to determine whether (or not) the spark is remaining viable at all RPM and under all combustion chamber conditions. Testing for spark by connecting a plug to the spark cable with the plug removed from the cylinder reveals very little about the the situation, mostly it will show only that some type of spark is happening RIGHT NOW. Because the parameters (conditions) inside the combustion chamber change significantly with changes of RPM and throttle position................the ability to "throw a spark" also changes significantly. It is well documented that a spark plug can make a healthy looking spark when checked OUTSIDE of the combustion chamber, but WILL NOT spark under combustion chamber conditions, or will spark at idle but begins to "cut out" as throttle is opened. That is why you need a bona fide spark tester so the sparking can be checked with the plug doing its job INSIDE the combustion chamber. And yes, looking at the IPL for your engine, it probably has the 2-bbl carb. And that underscores the likelihood of 1 jet being restricted while the other is still unrestricted.

OK, this is going to fall into the "damn, this is embarrassing" category... I took everything apart again this morning, including pulling the carb completely off and removing the float and needle to check for trash. Didn't find anything, so I compared the old fuel shutoff solenoid to the new one, looking to see if there was any difference. It is the correct part, but I had overlooked removing the main jet from the old one and installing it back into the new one. Once I had remedied my oversight and put everything back together, it fired right up. I mowed with it about 3 hours, and it's back to normal. Thanks for the reply - I do appreciate it. Andy

Gotta love this line "If i knew how to get any of these values id have no problem fixing the the truck myself. I was just looking for a little insight into where to start my search." If you went and got this information, you in all likelihood WOULD NOT need anyone else to guess for you and risk wasting more of your money if they get it wrong. In the shop this is information that a tech has to get in order to even begin to analyze the problem you described. With these details in hand, the tech could then focus on the system that is the source of the trouble. An example would be if the fuel pressure is below specifications, then from there the tech could measure the power and ground circuits for voltage drops, and then measure the current flowing through and the speed of the pump in its circuit in order to determine if the problem is in the pump or the wiring harness, or possibly even if there is an issue both. With fundamental testing routines, this can easily be determined. (FWIW this example is only one of the group of reasons for low fuel pressure, there easily could be other reasons) You allowed people to guess and throw parts, this has cost you money that you may, or may not have needed to spend. At this point we will never know for sure. You asked for help in diagnosing the problem, you really did get exactly what you asked for. There are no silver bullets when it comes to figuring out why a car does not operate the way its expected to. It takes tools, training, and years of experience to do this (at times) very difficult work. If its beyond your training, and of course its also likely beyond your friends, and definitely beyond Auto Zones, then you are faced with making a decision to either use a real technician and his/her skills to fix this, or else give up on it. Essentially you asked what it takes to diagnose this problem, I gave you the CORRECT answer. Use that information to help locate a good shop and a trained technician and they will make this problem go away for you.