Subaru SP170 engine starter rope replacement question

[Pilot]

Rope broke & I pulled off the starter housing. Everything is plastic except there is what looks kinda like a screw in the center. But it doesn't unscrew. Replacement recoil starter is $101, so I want to be careful with it. Suppose I just need to apply more muscle or is there a magic trick to getting these things apart?


An hour later...
Forget it. A lot more muscle did it. Now to wind it up.

 

[flyerdan]

Depending on which way the rope pulley normally swings, it might be a left handed thread so it doesn't loosen during normal use. If you just need to replace the rope, that should be doable without disassembly, just find where the knot is, that's where the hole for the rope to go through is. Wind up the spring, line up the hole in the pulley with the opening in the outer cover that the rope comes out, thread and tie a knot. Granted, you ideally need at least three hands to do this, but with a clamp or two it's not so bad. There's probably a youtube video out there that explains it far better that I did.