When you push the clutch lever forward, make sure it releases over the "snap". The handle on the lever should move a good 12" I guess (no D2 handy to check with). I've seen ponies run with 0.250 of axial float but if yours is 0.125 or less, it'll hold together for a while so long as you keep the oil fresh and full. Fresh means not diluted with fuel. When stopping the pony, turn the fuel valve off and let the carb run out of gas. When you next go to start it and check the oil, make sure the level has not gone up. If it has, the valve may be leaking and fuel has leaked into the crankcase. Do not run it until you have changed the oil - it only takes a quart so it's inexpensive to change if you're ever in doubt. Do not overfill. To release the pinion, open the small round cover on the clutch housing left side top (don't lose the 1/4 bolts...), turn the pony over until you can see a latch (one on each side 180 apart), then push the rear end of the latch and it will spring open - use a screwdriver or similar, not your finger or you'll lose some skin - enjoy!

It's really great to see a couple of fellows embarking on these projects. I went through my D2 5U13753 a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have a bunch of posts and photos on here. Search by my handle or that serial #. I have three more projects of my own - fit a D2 Hyster winch and D3 running gear to the 5U, a 3J that was fully frozen that will get a #44 hydraulic control and rear remotes for ag work, and a rare electric start D2 Teale loader that I bought on marketplace earlier this year that actually runs. I look forward to your posts and capers : ) We love photos and youtube videos. Do not hesitate to ask all the questions - none are too simple or dumb.

What trainzkid is referring to is something a couple of us have done, which is to make an improvement to the bearing arrangement for the pony's crankshaft. End float from the factory is controlled by locating the two main bearings using drilled holes in the main bearings and dowels to locate the bearings. This is a poor design approach and is responsible for many crankshaft woes. What I did based on another member's tactic was to machine the crank and the adjoining crankcase flanges to accept a thrust washer (bronze in my case). In this way, axial float is maintained much more reliably and last much longer, and removes any reliance on the dowels which now only have to prevent main bearing rotation in the case bore. If you find that you need to machine the crank, I'd recommend doing this at the same time as it's not a lot of extra effort (I think my guy said it was an hour or two of machinist time) and the only parts are the two thrust washers. The key factors are to take all measurements with new gaskets in place on the crankcase cover and bolted down to torque specs, and the crank must be correctly centered between the two cylinder bores so the correct amount of material can be removed from each side of the crank, and from each face of the crankcase and the crankcase cover. Other than that, the two crank bearings are shortened a tad so they do not bear on the thrust washer, and then you're off to the races. There may be some photos in a thread of mine on the forum here somewhere