Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. Some questions were posed so I'll answer those. As far as unknown mods over 46 years, not a concern as only my fingers have been under the hood in the past 46 years. The engine is sound and strong. As for trying to fiddle with the throttle while cranking thats pretty much impossible as I only have one right foot. When cold it starts fine and spins over at a typical 6 volt rpm. When warm it spins slower and if it doesn't fire its easy to quickly run down the battery, but when you get to the point that it it has no turn left a 15 foot push or hill rolldown, pop the clutch in 2nd and it fires immediately. It just needs to spin over quicker for 3-4 turns.
As for the other things like temp or gen gauges, they all work fine. Charging rate is within specs for a generator, although I wish it was more. All I need (and have needed for 46 years) is reliable cranking speed when the engine is warm. I will first attack by getting an Optima battery and new super gauge cables, who knows maybe thats all it needs and I can start parking at the bottom of a hill?
