Oh, BTW...I did get everything put back on and buttoned up yesterday. Put in the new battery, new plugs, some more fresh gas...it took a while with priming, etc....but she finally started up. Guess what? Still smoking, just as it did last October when I shut her down til now. Only ran it for a minute or two...Theres fresh oil in her, and I'm hoping the "gas in the oil" problem didnt occur with such a short run time. I think the previous oil change with the gas in it (yet another thread of mine!) had been building up over time last summer/fall. This whole thing is a nightmare...it sucks big time. I only wish I had the know-how and tools to get deeper into this kind of work...Im supposed to meet up with some buds who are riding in from out of state to visit me in about a month...I gotta get this resolved or I'll be following them around in my SUV!
I'm not trying to whine here...it's just very frustrating and I needed to vent a bit....and I appreciate everyone's help...this one and on other subjects in which I've sought advice.