Oooh, a snowblower thread!!! 
About 4 years ago, my 85-year old uncle was downsizing and cleaning out his garage, and he gave me his barely used mid-1980's Bolens 8/24. It had been sitting for years, and the carb didn't have a prayer at mixing fuel and air anymore. $25 and two days later, a new one from Amazon was sitting on my front steps.
I got 4 years from that machine before the wheel drive locked up last month and I gave up on the thing. It was also shooting sizeable sparks out of the muffler, so the engine was probably on its way out too. You might be able to get some more life out of the machine with a cheap carb like I did with this Bolens.
While we are on the subject, I also have this weird thing: a 1969 Yard Man Snow Bird.
This one was made before things like "safety regulations" and will likely try to kill you while using it. For one thing, the auger is always running:
No auger and wheel drive levers on this thing. You shift the thing into "Drive" with the giant T-Handle shifter, just like your 1969 Cutlass. It can (and will) drive around on its own.
The other fun thing it does is the entire center barrel with the chute moves via a chain driven crank:
Why they did this instead of a simple screw gear like every other chute known to man is beyond me. Since it's almost 50 years old now, the chain has stretched a bit and you have to keep one
That thing still sorta works, but a weld busted on the handle and it needed new belts, so it has been retired and relegated to "use it for fun" status.
When the big Bolens went down last month, I ponied up and bought a new Ariens.
Hoping this thing lasts a couple decades. I used it for the first time during the BOMBOGENESIS!!!! and it was tossing heavy wet snow around 30-40 feet. I'm impressed so far. Both the old machines would pick up the wet stuff and kina just leave it next to the machine.
