Re: starter rope
The rope will be the easy part of transferring the recoil parts; The thing to be careful about will be the spring/reel assembly.
Pages 68 and 69 of the Factory service manual have a full description of the process. The manual is handy to have, and a good value, though a few sections of the 8/9.8 manual didn't translate perfectly from the Japanese language. The recoil starter section is very good, and has descriptive pictures as well. I recommend getting the manual.
Basically, once you have the recoil unit off the motor, hold the reel, and disengage the rope from the handle, then gently ease the reel, allowing the spring to release tension. Then you can unbolt and remove all the parts from the starter case. Be careful extracting the reel, so the spring doesn't "bomb" out on you.
When reassembling, carefully engage the spring in the case while holding the spring steady. Then wind it up (counterclockwise as you look at the reel -- the way the rope will pull it). After the spring is completely coiled up, add about another turn to the reel, then thread the starter rope out and reattach the handle. At this point, you can cycle the handle to be sure that you have the correct number of wraps. You should be able to completely pull all the rope out to the last wrap, and the spring should completely haul the handle back up to the starter case, with a little tension left over to hold the handle there. If you need to add or remove a wrap, now is the time. Don't forget to lubricate the ends of the spring, and the shaft area of the bolt with a little lithium grease. The threads of the bolt should have blue (low temp removeable) lock-tite on them. Don't over-torque the nut, or the reel will bind.
When you reinstall the housing on the motor, don't forget to reinstall and adjust the neutral safety cable for the starter lock.
