no pressure...

[Shockman54]

ok, i'll take a look at those lower Ts. anything else it could be?

[Lonerider62]

I don't mean to be a hard-A$$ about this, but you started out saying you didn't seem to have compression, then thought maybe your compression tester was't good. From there you mentioned the head had been taken off, apparently for a cleaup??????? I don't know anyone who would do that. You also said the valve timing was good. Are you real sure about that? I've done it myself on my 80 and to get it spot-on the first time is one hell of a luck out for sure. Good, or at least decent compression and valve timing are ust as important for running as getting fuel and air in the propper ratio. Of course, the ignition advance and coils are important too. I'm just telling you thing because, unless you have measured all these things yourself and confirmed they are good, you'll be chasing our tail forever and get no where.

[fredintoon]

Your lower Tees will need to be fixed or replaced. You aren't going much further before you handle that.

Hi Marty,
Shock said that gas ran out the lower (gas supply) Tees when he put his gas lines on the upper (bowl vent) Tees and turned the gas on.
connecting the gas lines to the bowl vents will fill the carbs up backwards so the gas will run out of the open filler Tees, right?
Hopefully the lower Tees themselves may be in fine shape as good ones are hard to find.

[natemoen]

If you hook up to the upper T's the gas should not come out the lower ones. The floats should still rise and cut off the opening just as it normally should. Just that the gas will continue to rise till it comes out the needle opening and bell openings.

[BA80]

I would think he's talking about the o-rings that seal the T's.

[Shockman54]

ok, when i hooked the gas up to the upper Ts, and turned the petcocks to on, it was fine, no gas out of any part of the Lower Ts. it was once i started the bike that the gas came flowing out of the lower Ts. it wasn't leaking out of any part, but flowing out of the opening. the Ts were pointed down, so i'm fairly certain that the o rings around them are fine. they were replaced during the rebuild. I also grabbed some extra bits of fuel line and plugged one end of them and hooked them up to the lower Ts to stop the gas flow. after a little bit, the bike shut off on its own. however, i did not test the floats at all, just a visual inspection. so am i wrong to guess that the floats aren't functioning correctly? or does the bike not starting when the gas is hooked up to the lower Ts mean something else? i will try starting er up again with the gas hooked up correctly tomorrow if i can find time before work...
@ lonerider62, i don't know why for sure the head was removed, all i have is the POs story about his neighbor. I did a thorough inspection of all the parts and everything looked great to me. the bike had 89xx thousand miles on it, and everything looked like it was in great shape. it seems like the PO just didn't know what he had and wanted a learning experience. as far as i can tell from reading the manual and following the instructions. i timed the bike correctly. however, idk if i got the valve clearances right, so i am taking the camshaft cover off and double checking it on monday. i'm also going to check the electrical side of everything and make sure the coils, ignition advance etc. are all in good working condition. it doesn't surprise me that the bike ran so rough when i started it, considering the gas was going into the wrong place on the carbs (not to mention they are just synced, not tuned to what the engine needs yet) , this being my first time ever doing anything serious with a motorcycle engine, and not being sure on the valve clearances etc. i feel pretty accomplished just getting the bike started.
btw, the gauge was bad, and i got decent cold pressure readings on all cylinders, so next time i start er up, i'll try to get some better numbers.
I really appreciate the input guys, even if you tell me i'm a total dumba** for doing or not doing something, it all helps me get closer to cruising down the highway on a motorcycle.

[BA80]

The fuel lines go to the lower Ts. The upper Ts are bowl vents and connect to the 2 nipples on the airbox.

I'm suprised it ran at all hooked up that way. It should have flooded fuel all over. Sounds like those vents may be partially clogged.