It's the same with everything Greg. The fuckers that write the instructions think you already know how to put the damn thing together. I just got a new Karcher pressure washer and it is shipped with no oil in the engine. The instructions tell you to fill it half way between the full and add mark on the little dip stick. What they don't tell you is do you check it all the way screwed in or just put it in until it touches the threads. The dipstick fill opening is on about a 30* angle and it only takes about 6 oz of oil, so it makes a big difference.
It has a Honda engine, so I finally found the info on the Honda site, "insert until contact is made with the threads to check level". I later, the next day, finally got an answer from Karcher tech support. Guess what, they say to screw it all the way in. lol I'll go with Honda's info, they make the damn engine.
Sorry to hear about all the small problems. You have taken on a fairly big project, with large time constraints. I just hope you don't run into any big problems finishing it up.
Earl