Adjusting the Weber 34ICH Carb float in place

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I just rebuilt the Weber 34ICH carburetor on my Series III 2.25 petrol engine using an overhaul kit that included a new needle valve to use with the float.

I have a Petronix electric ignition in my distributor so I set the timing dynamically by turning the distributor until the engine sounded the strongest and smoothest.

I adjusted the mixture and idle screws on the carb for best results.

The truck is running a little rougher than before and the idle screw needs to be in 2.25 turns rather than the max suggested 1.5 turns. After very harsh, 'emergency' type stops the truck feels like it wants to turn off.

One last thing... after driving for a while and letting the car sit for 20-30 minutes it doesn't start on the first try. I give it some gas and then it starts fine.

Since it sounds like I'm running lean, since it wants to turn off after a harsh stop, and since it won't start on the first try after sitting a little while, I'm wondering if perhaps the float in the carb is set too low. If there isn't enough fuel in there my fuel pump has to push more in on a regular basis, air might be getting got the jets in a violent stop, and the fuel level in the carb may be too low after sitting a while to start until I pump in some more fuel.

Does the float level sound like a reasonable thing to check?

Any other ideas?

Can I leave the carb on the engine, remove the fuel line,undo the throttle linkage, etc and simply take the top of the carb off to adjust the float?

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I'm going to reply to my own thread in part by saying that it is possible to remove the top of the Weber 34ICH carb to set the float while the bottom of the carburetor is still mounted to the engine. I think this was mainly possible since I had just rebuilt it so the gasket between the two parts is in good shape. The float level seemed to correspond to the measurements listed in this forum and others, about 6.5mm but the fuel in the bowl barely covered the jets so I adjusted the float to get the bowl fuel level a little higher.

There was little difference when I ran the engine. I guess it sounded slightly better but perhaps that is my imagination. I reset timing just to be sure and then redid the mixture and idle screws on the carb. Now its running nicely at 1.75 turns in on the idle. I guess that's better than two. I'll report back if I figure out something else was causing my troubles.