Thanks to the excellent tutorial that I downloaded.
The rats nest and various other components now reside in a five gallon bucket. And I must say, they look much better in there than on the engine.

I also removed the shutter valve completely... I tapped the holes 3/8 -16 coarse thread and ran set screws in with a dab of red loc-tite. any oppinons here?

It started right up and idled for the first time since I have had it! Idles at around 700 rpm I know I need to do some carb tunning and maybe check timming, but man did it back fire!

Was removing the valve completely a mistake? should I have left the butterfly/flapper in place?

What can be done to help eliminate backfires, carb timing etc?

 

I'm curious also

 

Start by following the instructions in the Factory Service Manual (availabe online, link is in the FAQ) to set your idle speed and mixture. Next, check your timing. If that doesn't solve the backfiring, probably time for a good tune up (cap, rotor, plugs and wires). Good luck..

 

Nah.

 

yea no worries, the shutter valve is useless. Mines been gone for awhile. The rest of the rats nest is still there (nj emissions) but the shutter valve does nothing.