Poor performance

[Gary Buscombe]

My pilot friend & mechanic test flew LEXL with 45hp Casler engine; said it wouldn’t climb more than 50-100 ft per minute.
Shouldn’t it climb 500-600 rpm at 700’ elevation in Oklahoma?

[Chuck in Indiana]

Yep. Could be many things including prop.

[Gary Buscombe]

He is checking this week the twin Mikuni carbs; the valve lash was fixed. The plugs were sooty.

[Chuck in Indiana]

I run VWs at ,005 intake and .07 ex.
About all sooty plugs tell you is idle mixture. To find out what it's doing at cruise, you need to cut the plug away and look at the insulator. It should have a brown ring where the insulator flares out into the shell about 1/8" wide.