What about the points? You should have to turn the throttle up in neutral to start it. Does spark jump a 1/4" air gap yes or no? Is the needle bearing in? Have you tried adjusting the carb? Float set paralell to the body when it is upside down?
You need to clean your whole carb. What motor are we talking about here? Does it have a choke or a primer? It sounds like your idle circuit or main jet is still plugged.
That is a looper motor I believe you need to keep the VRO. Look at OMCs premix style VRO. Or if you don't t pay the price or have the oil injection, there are cheap chineseum vro pumps available
Before you take everything apart how about some simple diagnostics. Does it shift into reverse with the cable disconnected? Does the shift box have any broken parts? Any problems with the linkages themselves? A swelled seal would affect forward AND reverse.
