Good news... I work at the diesel mechanic shop, however the gas mechanics are right next door to us on the yacht yard. This morning I went over to have coffee and see what info I could gather. One of the guys is very familiar with the motor, has spare parts to a later model. I got my carb out of the back of the truck and he showed me a trick... turned the carb upside down-- so the floats would be in the closed position and then blew on the intake... air would still pass thru so the needle valve is not working properly. He says I can get it at Napa without buying the rebuild kit for about $10. I at least feel good that I had diagnosed the problem correctly.... now let's see if I can implement the fix. Might get my gold membership card back yet. ;-) Yippee. Happy Monday. Tell me something GOOD!