Mark, I seem to be seeing chunks of aluminium swarf - see red circles:

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I suggest you look closely and see if those silver bits actually are aluminium swarf. If they are, it seems as if the engine may have seized close to bottom dead center, and you haven't run it since it happened, so the bore has not yet been damaged appreciably further up.

If there is aluminium swarf jammed between the piston and the aluminium bore, you need a way to get it out without scratching the bore. This may mean removing the piston from the cylinder and cleaning up piston grooves, rings, and bore. Even if this turns out to be what happened, after clean-up it should be OK because any bore damage is at the bottom of the stroke, which doesn't matter as much as further up.

Please post to tell us whether it is aluminium scrapings, and what you plan to do about it.

Briggs changed from breaker points to Magnetron (electronic) ignition in 1982. I see that yours was made in 1979, so it is no surprise that it has breaker points.

Last edited by grumpy; 11/11/12 04:46 AM. Reason: Add note on ignition