Bill,
I haven't taken apart the carb yet. The car also has done this with an inline filter in the same location. It seemed as if it was caused by a dirty filter in the past which is why I chose to go with a sediment bulb as I can clean that easily. I was mainly concerned because the bulb drops almost 1 1/2 inches closer to the exhaust. The spacer for the carb is in place. Also, I can get it run slightly longer when it begins to stumble by adjusting the choke. This doesn't solve the problem, it just allows me an extra minute or so of run time.
Kael