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This snapper had a tired 5HP Briggs Engine that I removed and replaced with a Honda GX160. I took a piece of card board and traced the engine mount holes on the deck and transferred these to a 1/4 sheet of steel. This raised the engine up enough to provide clearance for the friction wheel and gas tank on the engine. My biggest expense was the sand blast and powder coating of the deck and handles. I tried this out with the thatcherizer and original white bagger and it was the easiest bagging I have done in a long time!

WOW! You did a fantastic job on that! It seriously looks better-than-new. Personally I would have a hard time even pushing that onto my muddy yard it's so nice - that would go into my lawnmower showroom and never get used.

Thanks for sharing the pictures - Question on your crankshaft pulley - did you use the Snapper one that came on the original engine, or a Honda one?

That is one good looking Snapper!!! Very nice job!
One thing that really questions me during motor swaps is the crankshaft end. Which on do you use?

Good job.

I love seeing people fix and use the best mowers ever made.

Carscw said:

Good job.

I love seeing people fix and use the best mowers ever made.

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I own one, can't wait to try it out.

That looks fantastic!! The powder coat is so much better than paint, that thing truly looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor. And a great choice in engine too, I've actually been thinking of dropping the same engine on my old commercial deck that is missing an engine. Awesome engine/deck combo. That will give u years and years of service. Outstanding.

That is one hell of a mower. Right engine for the job!!! Strong work on the restoration too. I love the look of the older front fenders, the ones that have SNAPPER stamped into them. Anytime a company can use the same design (drive system) for more than a couple of decades, you know it's good!!! I had a old 70's ish snapper with a little l-head Briggs on it. It had the HI-VAC deck and the blade with the attached hi-lift wings. I used to bet my buddies that my mower would pick a quarter up off of my drive and they would just laugh. Kinda makes me want to get another one. Would have to be 2-stoke though, I'm partial to LB's. Maybe one with an old Wisconsin. Anyway, FINE JOB!!!

redmondjp said:

WOW! You did a fantastic job on that! It seriously looks better-than-new. Personally I would have a hard time even pushing that onto my muddy yard it's so nice - that would go into my lawnmower showroom and never get used.

Thanks for sharing the pictures - Question on your crankshaft pulley - did you use the Snapper one that came on the original engine, or a Honda one?

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The replacement Honda engine had a stepped down 1" to 7/8" shaft like the original 5HP Briggs but the original pulleys were seized to the shaft until I showed them my Oxy/Act Torch! However, original replacements were easy to obtain.


I have been thinking about taking the original bag to a car wash and see if it will clean up better right now it is pretty brown but has not holes.

What I would do with that bag is take a brush and car wash soap. It worked for me. I had a black bag with white logo and the logo became nice and white again.

That helped mine too. After I washed it and scrubbed it I just hung it up on a clothesline outside to dry. I did use the compressor to blow it off some but it seemed to work well. I can't get over how good your mower turned out. I have to say that's the best refurb of an old snapper I've ever seen.

That is killer! Love it!

Makes me want to do that with one.

Dumbn question but are the holes lined up to accept any Honda engine or is this something specified when ordering it?

Very Nice...

I just did a similar project, except I used the GCV160 instead. Went pretty smooth.



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Here's mine I just finished assembling. Took a non-commercial deck that had a dead Tecumseh TVS-90, added the commercial handlebars, brackets and straps and put on a GXV-120.

Here's a better picture:



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Snapperfreak said:

<img src="http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=28928"/> <img src="http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=28929"/> <img src="http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=28930"/> <img src="http://www.lawnmowerforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=28931"/> Here's mine I just finished assembling. Took a non-commercial deck that had a dead Tecumseh TVS-90, added the commercial handlebars, brackets and straps and put on a GXV-120.

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That's a great looking mower you've got, nothing cuts like a snapper

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Thank you, yours as well. Very clean and that Honda engine was a great idea. Luckily the shaft size on mine wasn't an issue as it came off another older snapper self propelled mower, the deck was in terrible shape but this engine is great. Just needs carb cleaned but it bolted right up. Got the correct throttle cable off eBay and now it's makes a nice trio with my Briggs and wr185. I have the ninja blade on the Honda, looking forward to seeing how it mulches.

...but since my 185 (and other two WRs) reside in this recently acquired vintage display rack they won't see much use. So the Honda and Briggs are my go-to along with the old Honda HR-194.

Very nice rack you have there.

I'm really jealous of your setup, that is awesome!

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Haha thanks and thanks! I don't have much mechanical knowledge to bring to the table, I'm really more of a collector. Finally after almost a decade I've found pretty much all the ones I've been looking for. Some long travels at times to get some but worth it in the end.

Gotta love those old Snapper mowers! As much as they are nice, I hate using them.

The mower in the last picture has what kind of motor? It looks a bit like a Briggs Quantum.

Last pic has the Briggs 3.5 max engine. Currently does not run though.

Thanks. Do you know what is the problem?

Not yet but I do know the recoil needs a new spring at least. Insure the carb needs a good cleaning but it's last in line in my lineup. No idea when I'll get to spending time and money on it but it was a model I've been looking for for awhile now so for $25 I grabbed it. Here's a better pic...

Not bad for 25$! I'd definetly grab it also for 25$.

Finally got my new muffler guard and polished valve cover installed:















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Wow that looks much better. Little details sure add up. Is that your daily driver or is that Honda in the background? HR-214?

That is one of my daily drivers, my other main mower is a 2012 Honda HRX217HYA. I love the HRX, but it just doesn't bag quite as good as the snapper Hi Vac. The HRA215 in the background is a yard sale find I spent $50.00 on. All I had to do was rebuild the carb and it runs like a champ. I've got it on Craig's list right now for $175.00

Snapperfreak said:

Wow that looks much better. Little details sure add up. Is that your daily driver or is that Honda in the background? HR-214?

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Very nice. The HRX is the only mower I'd buy if I were to buy a new mower. My old HR-194SX and the 21500PC (Briggs) are the ones I usually grab. Although once the Honda/Snapper is running right I'll be using that often.