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New Member with a long Post


pungo

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Hey everybody! For weeks I have been reading what information is available and decided to join. Ya'll seem like a nice bunch of people and frankly, I need some help. I recently was hired to clean out a small engine shop and brought home a couple of old Simplicity units, a 2010 with Hydrolift and a 575 Wonder boy rear-engined rider. I consider myself a Restoration Artist though I am poor because I don't sell anything. My specialty to this point has been 50's Johnson motors and wooden boats, as well as guitar repair. Anyway, I decided to do a mechanical-only restoration on the 2010, spent 20 hours cleaning everything and currently boring the motor for a rebuild.She run but smoked, luckily, the hydraulics were in fantastic shape. While the cast Briggs is at the machine shop I explored the Wonder Boy. Just wonderful, the decals are mostly intact, seat cover nice, the deck is pristine. But.. I encountered a 3 leg coil as the source of my non firing problem. That, and I can find no markings as to the identity of this ( what I think) Briggs motor.The Briggs recoil starter housing fits all the holes, I feel like I am looking at a Briggs, but this infernal coil is a 3 leg. I am happy as a pig in fresh mud to be here!
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I thought so too, but the 59 Catalog on Simpletractors shows the one I have, The swordstick has an added handle guard and the hubcaps are full face, not smaller like earlier models. This brochure calls for a 5 1/4 Briggs with steel sleeves. Would the number you gave have a 3 leg coil? If so I could use it to begin a parts search. By the way, thanks!
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You will fit right in Pungo, but you better start looking for a bigger place. You started with two and they breed like crazy.
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Thanks everybody! I don't sell much but will donate to a worthy cause. There was also an old high wheel Yazoo and a antique looking Michaels Machine high wheel with a bronze 8 briggs on it. Plus boxes of parts and sheetmetal. I do intend to keep the 2010 and Wonderboy to fix up. My barn is already filling up.
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Hi, and welcome! I also have a wonderboy 575 that I am working on. I believe it should have a 5 3/4 hp engine if it is original. On mine, I have a 5 3/4 hp engine, but I am thinking it is not the original, although it is close. Mine had a plate with a couple of electric do-dads on it mounted to the engine, which I think would have been for an early electric start, which my machine does not have. It was an option tho, so I am thinking my engine might have come from a doner wonderboy that had electric start on it. I have the engine manual and the mower manual on pdf if you are interested in them. Let me know, i can email them to you. They are available also at the briggs site and the Simplicity site for the mower. Again, welcome!! Steve
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Thanks everyone! Cougar put me on the right path but it took all day searching online to get this mess straight.I finally found one Site with a listing for a 143000 parts breakdown, seems the 143 prefix was used by Tecumseh/Sears and the Briggs Suppliers don't want to recognize it. Finally!! The coil is a 296834 ( best price I found was 90 bucks). New carb available from Briggs (295857) for 99 bucks, but the rebuild kit(295938) is obsolete. Meanwhile, the 2010 motor (Model 243431)Briggs has a new carb for 170 bucks and I don't think I will have a problem getting the rest of what I need( the gasket set was 19, the carb rebuild kit 20). I'm gonna sit down Monday and send some dues in so I can Post a few pictures( that is if ya'll will have me). One treat I found was a new seat for the 2010, 159 bucks, NOS. Guess the electric bill will have to wait!:)
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Phil, Was just out in the garage and looked at my 575. The mfg. number is 990154. The engine is a briggs with model #141307, type 500576, serial number 11072. This is a 5 3/4 hp engine. Good luck with yours! Steve
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Steve, you don't know how much e-mailing those manuals would mean to me. So far I have been doing it the hard way. I believe it was Wise Sales where I seen a breakdown of the Boy showing the electric start setup, I noticed they have a good selection of original parts as well. Excuse me if I got this wrong, I have looked at a lot of mess today! Perhaps I will have something I can send to you in return, thats the way it supposed to work.
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Steve, would you mind telling me where those numbers are located? I have been scraping and using a magnifying glass and can't find anything, the numbers I am using were gleaned from Cougar and Simpletractors.
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The Simplicity Engine information manual does not show a Wonderboy rear engine rider 575 being made in 1959 or 1960 only the Wonderboy 700 front engine tractor. Then the rear engine rider Wonderboy continuing in 1961.


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Maynard, Simpletractors shows the wonderboy 575 rear engine rider being new in 1959. Then in 1962 the rear engine rider was changed...most notably having a steering wheel instead of the stick. I am assuming the 450 and 575 would have been made from 1959 thru 1961. http://www.simpletractors.com/simplicity/new_in_1959/wonder_boy.htm Wonder why it isn't listed in the engine info manuals?? Steve
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The information I posted is from the Simplicity Engine Manual. The Wonderboy 575 was most likely built in 1958 for sale in the 1959 model year Also the Wonderboy 700 front engine garden tractor came out in 1959 and was the only one listed for 1959 & 1960. It was later changed to just the 700 to avoid confusion with the rear engine Wonderboy. It was upgraded to the 725 7¼hp in 1961. That is just my logical explanation otherwise it is just another one of Simplicity's glitches with its record keeping and manuals.


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