Pull rope issue with mower.

I recently acquired this lawnmower from my grandpa and he said it only needs a pulll rope and it will fire right up. It’s a craftsman mower (I will attach photos) With a Honda engine. Before I go out and buy a pool rope for this exact mower, I am hoping to test the motors capability before I dump money into a pole rope and find out that I need to buy another part for it. Anyways, I have an empty B snowblower pole rope that is the same dimensions as the one that will be for the craftsman. However the only problem is that I am having trouble aligning the pole rope mechanism with the underpar with the grabbers that actually start the engine. I was wondering if this would be a quick fix or if it’s better to just pawn it off and get a different mower. Any input is helpful as I know next time nothing about small engines and specifically lawn mowers. FYI this mower has run in the past.