[SimonIG10]

I have an old Suffolk 98cc engine in a rotavator I picked up off Ebay. I gave it a quiock carb clean on purchase and it ran fine. I then took it over the plot and after really struggling to start it, the thing kept cutting out after a short while. I have been tinkering today but am still not happy with it. This is what I have done:
1. Stripped carb (Zenith type 13 TCA) again and blew all airways clear. Adjusted float on the needle so the the tickler just touches it when extended.
2. Noticed that it now had no spark so rempvd flywheel and polished points and set to 20 thou. Nice strong spark now (also has a new NGK plug)
3. Took head off and removed carbon from piston and valves and lapped in valves. Nothing that bad but now nice seal on valves and removed lots of soft carbon deposits. Reused head gasket as fine.
I seem to have to use the tickler on every start and wait till fuel is trickling out of small hole on the float body. Since I decocked it, it seems to need a lot of choke and is terrible to start hot.
Could I have an air leak from the inlet manifold gaskets? I ahve reused the gaskets and they seem okay but I guess I could make some new from card etc
The governor linkage is a bit of a mystery as well. There are 2 holes on teh governor flap but am unsure which one to use. I have moved to the top one as it seems to give a more positive throttle return but not sure if this makes any difference to the running.
Any bright ideas? For the 10 seconds I used it on the plot it seems like a good rotavator and is nice and portable so really want to give it a go. These engines look pretty simple so cant be anything major I suspect.

[Gwiz]

The gaskets should still be available new and don't cost very much.
You do have to use the primer until petrol seeps out of the hole at the back of the carb. Sometimes these engines do run very hot because of the cast iron block and cylinder, it can retain heat and evaporates the petrol, hence why you have to choke it all the time.
I used to see quite a few coils (Wipac?) that would break down when hot on these engines. Check for a spark when you are having difficulties when hot.
When you stripped the carb, did you remove and clean the long brass tube that runs from top to bottom on the bottom half of the assembly? (often overlooked as they can be a tight fit sometimes)
As for the linkages, I cant remember which hole they are supposed to be in as it really is a long time since I saw one of these!

[SimonIG10]

Ehm, will check the spark when it fails...good tip, thanks. I think I will disconnect the Rotavator  belt to see if it runs better and is not 'braked'. The belt seems very constrained under the cover even when the tension  isn't applied. I will try the gaskets as car engines tend to run bad with air leaks. Will end up with huge muscles is my right arm with all these starting problems!

[SimonIG10]

Well, looks like the spark is a lot weaker, infact virtually non existant once it warms up. Will strip the flywheel and have a clean up in that area. Will revert to Ebay to find a new coil if all else fails.