Hi Matt,

I also think its a timing thing and not the lash, so I'll set that back to normal once I get the backfiring sorted out. Right now ther're a little wide at 0.024. More than ideal I recon but not enough to cause major problems. As I replied to Phil, there's some questions about the timing marks on the pully since it doesn't look like the pictures in the manuals. I'll keep going in that direction though.

I'd be surprised if it were a lean problem since the plugs during all this are rather powdery black and I'm a good bit further down than the 9 flats the manual said to start at (maybe 12 or 13 at the moment). Going down that far was the only way I could get it not to stall when the piston lift buttons on the carbs were pressed. Right now it will idle at ~800 RPM and then drop to a steady 600 with one of the pistons lifted.

One thought is that maybe its all a symptom of the floats being set too low.... Low level in the carb bowl would require the jet to be lowered more than expected and could cause lean running.

Hmm.... Back out to work on it.

Thanks,

-aric.