What now?!

[egsols]

Don't forget.......the bowls from the 80,81's do not work on the 78,79 carbs and vice versa.

[dbeardslee]

I took the carbs off again and took a good look at the floats. The adjustment tang is square on the end, and I could see that the corners were making contact with the edge of the seat before pushing the needle all the way down. I took a dremel tool and a needle file and rounded the tangs off so they would clear the seat. Put 'em back on and got the same result. Turn the gas on and a few minutes later it starts running out of the carbs. This is without starting it. I may have the same issue egsols mentioned - the tang had to be bent way down to get the right float height.

I tried putting the brass floats into my vacuum chamber again, and left them there longer. After an hour I got one out of eight floats to pop back out. I ordered a set of brass floats from Mikes XS that are probably to wide to fit. I'm thinking I can unsolder the floats from the bars, and resolder to the old bars. I also ordered some viton tipped needles, so hopefully they will provide a better seal. Gotta get this thing fixed by next sunday so I don't miss the ride our locals have scheduled.

[dbeardslee]

Success

For those of you who are interested, I found the problem. Thanks to TC's references to the vent lines, after taking the carbs off for the 6 or 7th time I gave 'em a little shot of compressed air. With the plastic floats set to 27mm I put the carbs back on, turned on the fuel and no leaks. No starting either, but things were improving. Took 'em back off, set the floats to 25mm, and put 'em back on. I'm starting to get really fast at that (thank God!). Still didn't start right away, but Betsy's a cold-blooded old girl, it's in the 50's in the garage and she's been sitting for a week. I gave the new mixture screws 1/2 a turn out, and after a few remonstrations she fired up. Must of been something in the vent lines, and I think that was the problem all along.

On a related issue, when she started she REALLY sounded good. And that's without colortuning or synching. The carbkitscapital.com kit had new slide needles and new mixture screws and springs, which I think are going to make a difference. It's a little chilly out, but the suns shining and I think I'll go find out.

Thanks for all the suggestions - they helped. TC - you da man, as usual