79 spitfire wont run W/O choke

[mikes47jeep]

hi again

since i started tinkering with my 300, and got it pretty much ready to go, (still waiting for the bogie to come in)

i started tinkering with the spitfire,

i pulled like mad and no results, had good spark, had fuel, what the hell??

so, i know this is a really bad sin but i gave it just the tinyest whiff of starting fluid

and got a little vroom out of it, ok so now i KNOW its fuel giving me greif

i pulled the carb off, its the buterfly valve model (not sure make/model)

i pulled it apart and it looks like someone was chewing on the insides, however the jets look fair, so i cleaned it out and re assembled

now it runs decent but i cant get it to run without choke

any hints would be helpfull

Mike

[ChickenRat]

you probably need to find the pilot jet and make sure that is clean. same thing happened to mine last year.

Robb

[mikes47jeep]

how about adjusting the mixture screws??

[JDT]

Those Mik Butterfly's can be a pain. Carefeul cleaning may be the answer.

[Hoppy]

"looks like someone was chewing on the insides"......................what do you mean? that could be part of the problem right there. How did you clean the carb? Id strip that baby down and let it soak in carb cleaner(can be bought at advanced auto in paint can with strainer cup) and let it sit overnight. get all the plastic and gaskets out first.
then blow it out with air and make sure that all passages are clean! using pokers isnt recommended in the manual so stick with compressed air to blow them out. reinstall carb. and adjust and screws back to where they were when removed. if that doesnt fix it..........maybe something got chewed to the point the carb is now no good?

[mikes47jeep]

well i pulled it apart again and

it looks like the pilot bypass is a little tweeked, and the top of the main jet has a crack

[lwb140]

ive got an 80 that i had to clean the carb on about 3 times and all 3 times more crap seemed to come from knowwhere into it and plugged up thre jets also consider the crank seals make sure they are not leaking that will make it run lean too wade

[mikes47jeep]

i really do think its carb related

dose anyone have a spare carb or know where to get rebuild kits??

[Hoppy]

if its a mikuni you should be able to get parts for it from dennis kirk. if i were you and there is in fact stuff chewed up in that carb.....is spend the extra money and just get a brand new one. also found at dennis kirk.

[mikes47jeep]

Well I'm back

And I've been tinkering with the carb

#1 I found my fuel was bad, way too much oil

Replaced fuel, with properly mixed 50:1, that helped

#2 is it possible for the idle to be adjusted too low? It seems to be idling slower than my 300

And if I keep light pressure on the throttle just enough to bump up the rpm's a bit, it seems to run ok W/O choke

#3 it seems to bog down when I hit the throttle, but the clutch doesn’t seem to be engaging right

Could it be as simple as an old worn out belt?


However when everything comes together man that sled moves

Mike

[JDT]

You should be able to raise idle speed to just before the clutch starts to engage.
If the top of the belt sits below the rim of the secondary sheeves than it may be worn out.