Last summer I got back into bass fishing,and got a good deal on this 1980 skeeter,with a 1980 Merc.The guy That I bought it from,took the enging cover off,sprayed a mixture of gas and oil,in the carbs.Right then I should have walked away,but it was a good deal.My friends said  the 3 carbs needed to be rebuilt.So this winter,we done that.But still have the same problem.When the motor is tilted up,like when i'm towing the boat,a little gas drips from the carbs.When I lower the enging,this gas leaks into the lakes,which I don't like.It takes forever getting the engine started.I spent the winter on the net.looking into this problem.It seems like this was a problem that the factory knew about when this engine was built,but didn't fix it.Seems like a lot of guys have this problem.One guy said that Nappa makes a sponge you put below the carbs,so it catches the gas.I went on their website,can't find anything about it.I went to a Nappa store,they didn't know what I was talking about.I'm thinking about putting a shutoff valve on the gas line,so when I get done fishing,I just shut off the gas supply.Any thoughts on any of this?

Thanks

You should be able to disconnect the fuel line from the motor by pulling the fitting off a barb. Something in those carbs is still stickn, likely the floats if its just dumping gas out of the front. A little bit is acceptable.

 

When you rebuilt the carbs did you take the passage caps out and clean in there too? Did you adjust the floats by turning the bank upside down before putting it completely back together?

 

Is this a two stroke or a four, if its a two that explains the hard starting as older two strokes can sometimes crank and crank and crank before they will fire.

Yes,we did everything that you mentioned.It's not much gas that leaks.It is a two stroke.

Float level may be a little high