carb mounting nuts torque

Hello all, great site and great people on here. I have a 1981 mercury v200. I just rebuilt the carbs new gaskets etc, problem is after reinstalling carbs I sprayed carb cleaner on the base of them and had no air leaks. Boat ran good at the lake 64 mph, good hole shot and steady idle at 650 in gear. When I got back to the dock the motor idles high and has a lean spit when trying to restart it. I sprayed the carb cleaner on the base of the carb and this time the motor shut off. Do I need to tighten the carb nuts down more? I dont want to damage the carbs, and I have my manual but how do I obtain the torque spec with a open end wrench! Idle is a little rough and it seems to sugre at low rpms in gear. Thanks....1984 hydra sports vl 485, v200 21 pitch mercury prop.

Re: carb mounting nuts torque

You can put a box end wrench on the nut and then pull on the other end with a small hanging scale, like a fish scale. For instance if the spec is 60 in/lbs, and the wrench is 6 inches long, you'd pull on it 10 lbs.