I just had to dig up this old thread after reading a couple of cool stories recently. :) Fastest Known Muscles Found in Songbirds' Throats - I bet Olive could give them a run for their money when she's yelling at Barry. LOL And Rescued Cow Doesn't Know She's a Cow - I wish Milkshake could come live with me!! :) Brenda

I would buy a bowl gasket (item 137, B&S number 806481) and a needle valve (item 105, B&S 807706) My instructions are to be very careful, closely observe what you are doing , make notes, and take plenty of pictures of how everything connects to the carb BEFORE you start loosening any screws, bolts or other stuff. Most folks get into trouble by not marking their teardown trail adequately. When you think you have enough pictures, take some more. After you get the carb removed from the engine, you should disassemble the carb within the confines of a large cookie pan (with sides) or "biscuit pan". This will help keep stuff from getting lost. You will need to buy a can of spray carb cleaner (Carb medic or Gumout brand) to clean up the varnish and sludge. Wear eye protection when spraying the parts and do this in a well ventilated area (outdoors is good). You will use the straw (taped to side of can) to deliver the cleaner into all the passages and holes. Clean the outside of carb before you take the bowl off. Remove the bowl by removing the threaded nut (B&S calls it a plug) in the center bottom of bowl. If your carb has a fuel solenoid instead of a plug, remove the solenoid to get the bowl off. The presence of a fuel solenoid dictates that it must be tested too as a defective fuel solenoid can also cause a "fuel starved condition", so let us know if a solenoid is present (to get details on addressing that). Once you get the bowl off, examine the junk that has accumulated in the bottom of the bowl. If you find anything coarser than talcum powder (just a comparison) collected in the bowl, that same coarse junk might be clogging the jets. Even water has the capability to plug a jet (especially the small pilot jet). Carefully remove the pin (item 104) that holds the float (item 133) in place and lift out the float with the needle attached (darn good time to take some close-up pics). Remove the main jet (item 117) only if it has slots to engage with a large flat screw driver. If it does not have the slots, don't mess with it. The "idle air screw" (item 94) needs to be removed so you can clean out its passages. Before you remove the idle air screw, you need to very gently turn the screw CLOCKWISE, carefully COUNTING THE NUMBER OF TURNS it takes to seat the valve, DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN this screw, just until you feel it get snug when it bottoms out. WRITE down the number of turns and fractions of turns on a piece of paper that you will keep. If you have compressed air available, use it to your benefit to blow out all passages while they are still wet with cleaner. After you have done a few sprays of cleaner followed by compressed air, spray cleaner into all the holes and let it stand. If you have a piece of wire (paper clip or tie wire) probe into the main jet and/or passages to help knock loose any granular solids that could be there. After about 10 minutes, spray some more and let it stand. Do this about 3 or four sprays and after your last spray, blow out all the holes and passages thoroughly. Assemble the carb (refer to your pics) with the new needle valve and gasket. When you install the idle air screw, run it in til it bottoms, then back it out the exact number of turns and fractions that you recorded in the teardown procedure. Put everything back together on the engine exactly as it was before (refer to your pics) with new hoses and a new fuel filter. Let us know about whether a fuel solenoid is present so we can cover you on testing and cleaning it.

maggie I wouldn't stop the treadmill completely but I would make sure you use the settings that change it up so that you are not going the same pace all the time. Go up hill and fast and slow etc. Also I would vary your workout and use other machines. Stair steppers seem to have gotten a lot better and appear to be real climbers now . Also elliptical is another choice and the cycling classes. Variety is the spice of life. But...most important do not leave off weight training ! Make sure you lift weights. That is the key to no injuries. c

"Laptop" is a misnomer, the "laptop" unit wouldn't fit well on someone's lap. Today's "notebook" computers are more convenient to use on the lap but of course need ventilation, especially more powerful units. Much depends on the processor and the unit. I have a tray that my notebook sits on and I have the back legs propped up to give more airflow. Older units used to have flip out legs to do this. I just used a couple paint sticks under the back feet and a few weeks ago added a couple bottle caps to lift it another 1/2" or so. Works great, simple and free. It has the added benefit of putting the keyboard at a better angle for typing. A hard surface will help dissipate some of the heat. Or get a cooling pad. People are incredible. They'll turn on heating pads until they burn themselves, leave computers to overheat and burn themselves. Guess there's just a lot masochists out there.