Colt Case Ingersoll Garden Tractors

From comments back from members I think I need to take a two stage approach here. The first I need to rework the lift arm to move the rotator arm cross brace (at least thats what I am calling it) more towards the caster to give more clearance to the engine. The rotator arm though is very fragile due to age and use I guess we are talking here of a 1977'ish caster.
The engine tin also needs a lot of work to bring back to somewhat normal. For me I would prefer to replace but I checked on line and there are none available rirght now so it is what it is.. The weather here in WNY is in the early 20.s so today is off limits but check back... I need to fix this...

So, just for information. I have two snow casters a J series that came originally with my 1977 446 and a later L series that came with a 1985 448. Obviously, like most buyers I have no clue of the original origin...were they part of the original purchase, etc. I just assumed that they were but how do you really know the true story. So I checked the lift arms for both snowblowers and they are the same! That really surprised me. So it would appear that either model would have caused the same damage to my engine tin! For me I will deal with the issue at hand here, indeed I have just won a bid for a replacement tin on ebay(Case Ingersoll 446 Tractor Onan Engine RH Rear Heat Shield Air Deflector C28034). Trust me though I will be looking into how to repair the tin I have but also what others should do to not make them a victim of this too. Just know I have a very well stocked machine shop and will fix this!