First, let me thank all of you for the advice, tips and suggestions. Don't know what I'd do without you.... One detail I left out of my original post is this thing never quits while it's running - once you get it going, it stays running until you shut it off. Then it won't start again.
OK Troops....I got this figured out. This thing has an automatic choke. I detest those things. In a pandemonic effort to get it started so I could at least get it on my trailer for the dealer, I changed the plugs, changed the air filters, gave it a spritz of starter fluid - nothing. But I did notice that it was puffing whitish smoke while cranking which smelled strongly of gasonline. So I took the cowl off and started rooting around the engine. I found the controll lever for the 'automatic choke' and lifted it -thus opening the choke - while cranking the engine at the same time. It fired right up and ran like a top. During my experimentation I started it, shut it down and went to start it again. It wouldn't start unless I lifter the lever for the AC. But every time I did, it fired right up.
Going to see if there is a fix for this, maybe a way to install a manual choke or something, and I'll keep you guys posted.
Again, thanks for the help.
