I'm still struggling. I still have problems. I seem to have solved the timing, points, etc. issue. No more backfiring. Now it seems to be starving for fuel.
It will sit and idle all day long. When putting it under a load, it skips, bucks, and dies. Just even starting off in first. It's getting worse and worse. At first it was just in 3rd gear on the highway. Now it does it in the yard before I can leave the house.
I overhauled the zenith-2 carb that was on it with no improvement. I replaced the card with a good (supposedly) zenith-1. It made no difference. The gas cap vent appeared to be stopped up, and I drilled it out and put in a set screw so it wouldn't twist.
I have vacuum at the wiper hose, and pulled it and stopped it up with a bolt to bypass the motor in case of a leak.
When I tried it this morning, and it stalled, I saw some dampness at the intake on #3 and #4. I hope you can see it in the attached picture.
Could that be an intake leak? I tried spraying carb cleaner around but it made no difference in the idle.
I flooded it when trying to restart. It usually cranks cold perfectly and idles perfect.