Nope...the fuel overflow line isn't plugged off.

You don't have the fuel overflow line plugged off do you ?

Hi all, Sorry for the late reply...had family in town and my wife wouldn't let sneak off to the garage

The needle is: BFY The carb is plugged off, not connected to the breather. I did make a small adjustment to the jet bridge position (the 2mm), but not sure it was enough to make a substantial change.

Spitz forgot to mention, the top of thejet should be about 2 to 3mm below the bridge as a starting point. As he suggests, the needle may be totally wrong for your application, so find out what the code is on it and post it.

I would suggest pull the dashpot off.....have a look where the jet is in comparison to the bridge.
Also, while you have it off....pull the needle and confirm what it is ( letters at the very top once you remove it from the piston )
Post here what you find.
Also.....you do have the port on the carb either plugged off or connected to engine breather.....?

Hi All, I'm back again to ask for more advice....I just can't seem to get the balance for tuning this HIF44 carb. Does anyone have advice on where I should start my idle speed screw? The issue I'm having is trying to balance the richness of the mixture vs idle speed. When I adjust everything at normal engine operating temp....I have to set the idle slightly above 1k. Then the engine idles fine.

But from a cold start the engine wont stay running. It tries, but just sputters out. Even with full choke. Any other suggestions? I'm at a loss of how to get the right balance. Thanks again

No, I don't know of a source for non-bimetallic lever. There are plans floating around (somebody may offer them up) on how to convert a bimetallic one. Essentially one needs to take it apart, duplicate the heat-sensitive part and rivet it back together. I worked from scratch as I didn't want to be left without it in case my cunning plan didn't work! It probably doesn't need to be stainless steel, but I had some scraps around and nothing better. Brass or aluminum would have been alot easier. The part doesn't move once adjusted, so wear is not an issue, but it does need to be stiff enough.

see part 16 at this page:

//www.minimania.com/catPage/6-15/6/15

Do you know if your timing is spot on correct?

Running hot and lean can also point to too Advanced Distubutor.

This sounds just like what I'm dealing with...chasing a moving target! Not sure if I have the expertise to make my own lever out of stainless steel; Do you happen to know if this is something I can fine after market?

One of the difficulties I have with a HIF is the issue of the bimetallic lever inside. It is supposed to lean out the engine as the carb is warmed up by the warmed-up engine. Because of where the mixture screw is, I'm not the quickest at getting adjustments made. With the bonnet up and the car not moving and getting a flow of fresh air, the heat from the header rises and continues to warm the carb, continuing the lean-out process. For me it was trying to chase a moving target. I solved that by duplicating the bimetal lever in stainless steel - a slow process with only hand tools. But it worked! Now tuning is simple - the old-fashioned way: adjust the mixture and correct the idle to suit. Repeat until satisfied.

I suspect you're having the same issue. Probably you're adjusting appropriately but the carb continues to readjust while you straighten up to adjust the rpm. When you do that, the engine is already too lean.

Hi all, Everyone here has been helpful before so I thought I would reach out again. I have a single HIF44 carb that I rebuilt on my 1275cc mini and I'm having a heck of time getting the mixture/idle speed to an optimal setting. The car is running ok...it's drive-able......but I do know it's lean and running a bit hot. So I'm been slowly making the mix richer (right turn on mix screw on mine and I can't seem to quite get to a point where I can idle at 1k rmp without the engine dying out. I can turn up the idle speed and that helps? But then the RPMs ramp up and not sure what to adjust from there...

Does anyone else out there have a better process they're willing to share? thanks all, john