The 'bird is alive! It survived my ministrations and started and ran once the fuel pump and carb were refilled. Rotating the distributor produces consistent changes in timing. Unless I equip the 'bird with pontoons I can't do a road test, but in the garage the sound is awesome.

I found and repaired leaks I didn't know I had (intake passages were crossing over, oil galleries were leaking into exhaust port, lifter pan had little gasket remaining, and front oil pan gasket was dust. The known leak at the front timing cover was a timing cover front seal that didn't have any rubber left.) I should be saving on my oil budget now. I located and restored an original air cleaner, degreased and painted everything with the correct colors, replaced the heater and radiator hoses and thermostat (also not working) and fixed the original timing chain issue.

Tomorrow the testing and tuning begins in earnest. I ran the engine only long enough to fill the cooling system completely and to set the initial timing back to 9 degrees.

The carb had epoxy on the well plugs already. It was rebuilt in 1999; it is autographed Barry. It works, and doesn't leak. The carb has a kickdown switch, but it appears to be improperly installed and is missing the boot. I will try to figure it out tomorrow.

With the change in advance springs, the timing advances about 7 degrees by 1200 rpm. While the balancer was off, I added a 30 degree mark for tuning ease. I will continue tuning to try to achieve the right settings. Too bad there isn't a way to read the timing while driving.