The mounting bolts shrank- Briggs mower carburetor reinstallment

Hello!

I worked on Briggs and Tecumseh but it was 30 years ago,
so I'm lost.
I bought a carburetor kit for a Troy-bilt LTX-1842 online.

It has a Briggs 16.5 HP I/C engine (331877-0036 G1)

It runs good and mows good but was running hot and the carburetor
Was dropping fuel, so I bought a new one.

I removed the (black intake tubes?) bolts from the engine, removing the
Choke and linkage wire. Loosened the carb mounting bolts and
The carburetor was free.

I put the mounting bolts in the new one, but now the bolts are too
Short. I checked the old carburetor. The bolts are too short
To go from one end of the carburetor to the other, much less
Through the intake system, so now I cannot reattach the new carburetor.

I checked online and no one has ever had issues with these bolts
shrinking before, and admit I've never had luck with repairs,
So I would greatly appreciate any help.
I can pay or offer video or photos if helpful.

I literally just need the carburetor and the two plastic tubes
On either side reattached.

Thank you 🙏🙏

I'm sure the smoking muffler wasn't related,but since the fuel smell was very strong and I finally found gas
On the bottom of the carburetor (it did not have an anti-fire plugto disconnect btw), I heard on a video that the
Carb rebuilt kit was only $26, that also came with a new plug, fuel filter and gasket,though I'm very grateful that you
Mentioned the float/seat because that was mentioned in one vid I found.
The carburetor does seem to be a duplicate to the original on the engine.
The problem is the bolts. When I try to put the carb mounting bolts in the breather tube throat, it isn't long enough to reach the opposite end of the carburetor, so I am unable to reattach it. The only possibility is if those adjustment nuts on the mounting bolts are adjustable, andi just moved them further down onto the bolt so that now it will not go back through the breather tube assembly.

I downloaded the owner's manual and it just says "do not adjust the carburetor".
I downloaded the parts manual,but it just shows the carburetor assembly, but no pages or instructions to how it connects
To the breather/intake assembly.
I tried chat GPT, but it just says "re-attach the bolts to the breather throat/nipple/flange".
Since Briggs is now out of business, I couldn't find any other support.

I will try to attach photos again, but it just kept giving the loading icon the last two times.
Thank you thank you for your response!

Can you not reattach the original carburetor?
For photos, if you continue to have trouble, you might be able to upload to a photo sharing site and send us a link.

Admin, posts are either not showing or posting (my own posts). 
 
Numerous posts just for this thread are showing "approval pending"...  ???

I think your putting the carb on in-correctly. We can only partially see what's on each end of the carb with your pic's...
 
The choke side of the carb should be facing the right, (closest to the air filter) as you look at it on the engine.
Choke being the black plastic lever atop the carb.
 
The intake manifold obviously bolts to the head, then the carb in the PROPER orientation.
 
Those long bolts would only bolt on one way.  I do have to admit, I've never seen 
shouldered/splined bolts as what you have.  
 
Do you know if those are factory installed bolts, or the machine is newish to you and someone's
been playing mechanic?
 
.
 
 

Does this help?
 
 
 
 
 

I can see an imprint of the "splines" on the black manifold mount holes, but those small nuts do not seem to adjust on their bolts, and short of using a hammer, I'm not sure how to get the splines or the tiny nuts on the bolts to fit back into the manifold. I will try to get more photos.

I can't say if the previous owner made changes, but the carburetor was definitely old and used, and everything
Fit together just fine before I removed these three pieces from the engine.

And thank you for the tips!

I have photos but they just keep loading and not posting.

. The mounting bolt (splines/flange and the attached small nuts are fixed onto this bolt)
And the entire assembly with the engine bolts I put in on the left to go onto the engine.

I kept all the parts together in a box, so just the nuts are for the opposite ends of the bolts I guess?

IE:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Link attempt with parts..

I click the "hotline for forums" icon to the right

It says copied.

I see either a url option or https option to paste.

I pasted 4 photos, but when I click submit or save changes, they vanish and are no longer inside
My reply post.