Triumph Repair: Carb problem 76, 1500, spitfire 1500, engine cold

Question
I hope you can help me, I have a 1976 spitfire 1500 and I have had it about four years.   I live in Alaska and I don;t get to drive it as much as I would like.  The car likes to stall when comming to a stop, it will sputter a bit while at speed as well.  I am pretty sure it is flooding out because I can smell gas.  There may be a leak up front in some canister, it may be the carborator, it may be that I am in over my head.  I love this car and I would really like to fix this problem, any help you could give me would be great.

Answer
Dan,

If you're not driving the car on a regular basis then it could be the float needle valve sticking open.  

One thing to check would be to pull the spark plugs (with the engine COLD of course!) and see if they're sooting up.
That would also be consistent with the float chamber over filling.

Try running the engine, shut it off and pull the air filter.  Is there gas visible in the carb throat or in the filter itself?

Other that that, all I can recommend is going over the engine bay carefully looking for any possible rotted/broken hoses.


Cheers,

Jim