Thanks Gadge, once again your exceptional knowledge of the HD-8, and superior (to mine, at least) observation skills have cleared up the mysteries. I suppose if I were the owner I'd leave that stuff in place until or unless it needed parts that weren't easily available, then I'd put the whole thing back to the way Greenfield made it: with a rewind starter. I kind of like HD-8s, and I try to reserve "improvements" for machines that don't have any design integrity or historical merit.
