ok... so far sounds good... get those valves adjusted all the way before dinking with the carb.... cause thats going to change things.... replacing all the lifters... decent idea... the only thing i might have reccomended is changing the cam... old cam new lifters... they haven't worn to each other so the cam will probably wear out faster now, but not neccisarily, it all depends.... but once you get those valves adjusted i'm betting you'll have a lot less problems with getting that carb adjusted...