It's ALIVE!!!

After all the mess we made exchanging the flywheels, we set ourselves on finishing what we had started. When I arrived home early in the morning, I did a basic test to make sure we had spark. The starter was hooked up and the cylinders were oiled. I simply could not get it to start, however. Before I went to bed, I decided to check on the carburetor. I saw something quite peculiar -- the main jet was flooding, creating a pool of gasoline on top of the throttle plate.

When we regrouped the next morning, we disassembled the carburetor and found that the stop valve in the float bowl was not functioning properly. Luckily, this was an easy fix as we had an extra hanging around. We put the whole thing together, swapped out the starter we were using for one in better condition, and the engine came alive. It was a great feeling, similar to the feeling that occurs after all the windows are opened to let out the smoke from the house after an engine is started for the first time.

Just for reference, I have found that the following usually needs to be checked before an engine will work after a long time in storage:

Fuel Pump -- Often the diaphragm breaks and a new pump is needed.
Coil and Points -- Just make sure you have spark.
Carburetor -- I have had problems with both the stop valve and the accelerator pump on various occasions. The channels on the smaller carbs can be easily blocked up as well.
Voltage Regulator -- My generator has always worked fine, but the regulator has almost always needed to be polarized.

I also put an ounce or so of oil into each cylinder as directed by the Idiot Guide, especially as I'm usually unprepared to turn the engine around sufficiently to prime it.