I did try advancing the mag beyond half way, and also switched spark plug
wires out of desperation, to no avail.
I think, when I have time ( I hear today is Mother’s Day) that I’ll
pull the carb back off, and try to make sure, somehow, that
it’s sealing, and tight on the power head. And maybe when
the carb is off, I can dump some vicious oil in to seal that center main.
Thanks for the suggestions!

UPDATE – I took the carb back off, and hooked it up to the fuel line to
observe if the carb was flooding thru the nozzle / pickup tube.
When I opened the fuel valve gas squirted out of the nozzle, but
stopped when the float seated the needle.

With the carb off, I squirted a little ether in the crankshaft port.
It did fire, but not vigorously. It would fire the next few pulls,
hitting two or three times at best.

I then put the carb back on, set the carb to "Fast", but didn’t
turn the fuel back on. I then commenced to pulling it over
about 15 times until my shoulders said enough.
It fired every time, but the most hits in a row was probably 5 or 6.

I cut back the carb needle adjustment from 2 to 1 turn open,
and will play with it some more tomorrow.

I’m feel confident that the carb is on tight (at least now)
and not sucking air. I noted that the carb must be pushed
onto the power head mount all the way, or there’s a chance
of air sucking thru the slotted part of the carb that the
mounting clamp squeezes tight.
Is there suppose to be any kind of gasket involved in mounting
the carb to the power head?
Thanks

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