Hey XD-bird,
Sorry its been so long in responding. I had been too broke lately to even buy a few cheap parts! LOL. Your picture really helped. I never could figure out how to adjust the jack-shaft to align the pulleys. Here is what I did instead. I had a machine shop cut down the small sprocket hub about 1/4 inch. Then the upper pulley (is that the clutch pulley? the one with the centrifugal force springs in it?) was still a little too close to the engine side. So I got a spacer (bushing thing) that was a little too long. I measured the distance it needed to be to bring it into good alignment with the lower pulley. I cut it down with a Dremmel tool and now the inner plates of each pulley are aligned very well. But the upper pulley only fits about 1/2 way onto the shaft. I bought a longer bolt to make it reach and that seems to work fine for now. I am a bit worried about the pulley being only half way on though, but the bolt is tight and is NOT lob-sided when it spins.
The small sprocket went from 11 teeth to 13 teeth and increased speed considerably. Thank you for all your help. It really is great to have smarts friends!
I also squashed the axle rod whooper in a vise. It straightend about 95% good but broke the weld. It is also repaired and both tires are aligned again. Everything is running great.
I had also got a belt close to the original length but not as wide; nor was it cogged on the inside. I found one slightly shorter in length but a tad wider and cogged on the inside. It grabs a lot better. How do I make sure the belt is at proper tension? Its supposed to be loose right? I can squeeze the belt between the pulleys and touch them pretty easily.
I'm still a major rookie but learning a lot every day. A broken machine is a lot of fun! LOL We are going to take "small Engines" in 4H this year. Lord Willing, I will learn all the names of the parts. Haha. We will be rebuilding an old engine that doesn't work. I hope to learn a lot!