Thanks, du. I'm beginning to understand lots of new things, like absent kick-back there's no mechanism for loosening the prop nut. 8 ft-lbs surely isn't a lot of torque!

I'm not sure what you meant by "OP's engine" but in my case you're right on. I bought a 2" plastic spinner from one of the usual suppliers, yellow to match my plane color. So I should re-do that with a metal spinner and back plate? I guess polished aluminum or chrome would look just as good, maybe better!!

Now if I could just figure out how to get the damned thing to idle at a reasonable speed[].

Frank