Just a thought. Had a very similar experience this summer. Rebuilt the carb and fixed a leak. Feeling good about my self until I took a test drive. Fuel starvation and stopped. Tools were in the cab and my neighbors are used to me at the side of the road with the hood up. Nice folks. Any way I took the top off and the needle was stuck in the seat. Had to pull it out with a pair of needle nose. New viton tip and new seat????? So I still had the old one and put it in. Started and ran just fine. No leaks. I did check and recheck the float adjustments cause I was worried. Still good. Drove towards home and it did it again. Pulled the top and the needle was stuck again....pulled with the pliers and set in the back of the truck with a bit of 600 grit paper. Burnished the old needle and put it back. Drove home with no more problems. Modern fuel is not a lubricant. I did the same to the new needle and saved it for later. Been 1000 miles and still running strong. Go figure. Yes the bowl was empty each time and now? I can pull that top off in record time.
