I'm proud of my sons, oldest is into woodworking, upgrading homes, made me two red oak tables for Fathers day. Younger is mechanically inclined, jack of all trades. Our 1990 Honda GXV140 Masters Series needed some TLC. He checked compression, was 60 & blowing white smoke. Took engine completely apart, cleaned, inspected, took measurements, lapped valves, honed cylinder, ordered parts, reassembled per shop manual, checked compression, fresh oil & gas fired her up & runs like new. He now has his first mower.
Absolutely, thanks for replies, & yes they are well built machines.
Did pretty much the same with my 1989 HR215SXA earlier this year. Almost no cylinder wear, and the valves looked perfect as they were. A quick hone, rings and shaft seals, and it's still a 1/2 pull starter, and zero smoke or oil use once again. Also broke down, cleaned and rellubed the trans - also looked pretty much like new, but figured why not . . . These mowers appear to age exceptionally well, and I haven't found anything I would consider an equivalent (or better) replacement short of the HRC series.
