ok guys, I'm still puzzled...checked for vaccum leaks, bought another carb kit and rebuilt it my self, a friend came over and checked the compression and valve lash...all good. still only runs with choke pulled out about 1/3 of the way. also, when the motor gets warm, and you shut if off, can't get it to crank until it cools off. I did a search on here and found where someone said to pull the dipstick and see if the oil smells gassy. I did and it does. If the fuel pump is bad and dumping gas into the oil could this be why it's hard to start and possibly the answer to my other problem of not running without the choke? Even though there seems to be enough gas going to the carb...inline fuel filter is 3/4 of the way full.
thanks, Ken