283 carb settings

[rjtipple]

I have a '63 Sea Skiff with a completely rebuilt 283. I need to find out the initial settings for the carb. It idles at about 500 rpm when cold, but doesn't make much power as the rpm's rise. I haven't been able to get the boat to get up on a plane. It seems to bog down as I try to accelerate. Any advice will be appreciated.

[Bilge Rat]

Some ideas:

Verify that the distributor advance is working. You'll need a timing light with advance knob to accurately check this. In lieu of that, take the distributor cap off and twist the rotor, it should spring back indicating the advance springs are working. The whole springs and weights assembly can get rusty and stick.

Recheck the firing order.

Try a replacement ignition coil.

Are you running standard breaker point ignition or Pertronix electronic?

A blockage of the high speed jets in the carb might be causing this, anything over idle would switch to the high speed jets.

Although it's been rebuilt, a quick compression check might show a loss of power on some cylinders.

Can it rev up and stay at high RPM in neutral okay?