I've been working on correcting a rich condition as indicated by a carbon fouled plug for some time now. Today, I decided to go back to square one. I pulled the carb and noticed that as I pushed the slide up, the N1TC needle became more and more off center in its seat at the bottom of the venturi. By the time the slide reaches its fully retracted position, the needle is favoring one side by a few millimeters. Suffice it to say that it's noticably off center to the naked eye anyway. I pulled the needle out an noticed that the e-clip was slightly warped when view from the side.

Isn't it the rise of the needle as a result of the upward movement of the slide that controls how much fuel is sucked up through the main jet? If so, do you think that it being off center would create an abnormal flow of fuel into the venturi?

A few other things I noticed wasfuel/fuel residue in the upper chamber of the diaphram and black deposits on the top and bottom of the venturi wall on the engine side of the butterfly. Fuel could make its way through the slide hole vent or the hole in the slide where the needle comes through if there was too much being drawn through the needle port. What do you guys think?