Murray 5725 lawnmower 8hp Tecumseh TVM195 will not start

[tsarbomba]

Bought this mower in non-running status (bad idea). I cleaned the carburetor, replaced the head gasket (now has 80 pounds of compression), checked for fire at the sparkplug while i tried starting it, looked like plenty of fire. Carburetor appears to be getting plenty of gas to the float bowl. But it would never fire up. I tried starting fluid with no noticeable results. When it finally did do something it looked like the engine kicked back and then went on turning over, but still never fired. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[tsarbomba]

I am wondering if the electrical system on this mower might be keeping it from running. The key switch will not engage the starter so i have been jumping the solenoid terminals to turn the engine over. The key switch has a position for the headlight which does turn on. There is a square black electrical connector that appears to be unused in the wiring. Is there a way to troubleshoot or bypass the electrical system just to make sure it is not keeping the engine from running. I checked for spark at the sparkplug while turning the engine over and it looked fine.