Just to update, in case you're not suffering through my long and rambling old Betsy build thread..
I dropped the fuel tank (I'm making it sound easy but in reality it was anything but) and replaced the fuel pickup tube which sees metal lines coming out of the tank. They were rusty at the bend and I'm reasonably sure that is where the air was entering. I also took the opportunity to clean and POR15 the tank and the skid plate, and replace all of the other rubber lines, as well as cleaning up and painting the fill tube assembly.
I have now had every day this week of smooth idling almost immediately after a very fast 3/4 turn start, and NO SMOKE SHOW! My neighbor must think I haven't been going to work? LOL. I should add that ambient temps were somewhere around five degrees Celsius and my first start of the day sees a double glow and lasting about 8 seconds.
In response to a previous post here, I do have a lower rad hose heater, and when this is plugged in it obviously makes a huge difference. A block heater would be preferable of course but I haven't gotten definitive answers on which frost plug to use and the clock orientation of the element yet. If anyone can shed some light on this for a 1hz, I'm all ears. (Or is it all earmuffs? LOL)
Here's the relevant section of thread where I drop the tank, if anyone feels the need for self torture.
You might find this thread to be helpful... https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/remove-fuel-tank.1169566/ It has the procedures on installing the filler neck, hose diameter etc. Good Luck Ralf I've read through that thread about 5 times and consider it biblical in its importance!! Thanks again...
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