There is almost no perceivable space in the bores at idle setting.
 I  agree with the suggestion of drilling 3 small holes (one per
runner) in  the slide.  I had considered doing that to help during idle.

  As for the air leak... During idle, the 2" hole in the Teflon
slide for  rotor #1 moves very close to the hole in the frame for
the cable.  This  could provide a path for the air to bleed into the
#1 rotor causing it  to run lean.  This may account for the higher
than normal MAP as well as  a mismatch in air-fuel mixture during
idle.  It would become less of an  issue as the throttle is opened,
 exactly as I am experiencing.  I  suppose I've got it tuned as well
as possible, but with this condition,  I don't see how I will ever
get it to run well at low MAP.  It shouldn't  be too difficult to
install a small seal.  It sure wouldn't hurt  anything.  I could
probably stuff a small piece of shop towel around the  shaft for a
down-and-dirty test.  If the idle improves I'll know that  I'm on to
something.

  Mark S.

  A seal would be worth a try in that case.
  For future use do you have room to make the slide an inch or so longer?

  Paul Lamar

  Paul,

  I guess it is possible (anything is possible), but not really practical.
     Ref. *Marks pics 2009-2010 287.JPG *showing how close to the firewall
  it is now.  The other end is up against the oil cooler.  So, what did
  you have in mind?

  Mark

  One inch longer on the fire wall end.

  But try the seal first.

  Do you have Teflon on both sides of the slide?

  That should help seal the top and bottom in case it is leaking
  around the edges. Also what is the exact gap at idle?
  I can figure out the area.

  Paul Lamar

Paul,

I'll try to measure the gap on my next trip to the airport, which
will be next weekend.

Previously, I had sealed around the edges with Hylomar.  I also added
more screws around the perimeter.  I had it apart last weekend to add
an idle stop (should have done that in the beginning).  I didn't have
any Hylomar on hand, so I reassembled without it.  That may be
contributing to the current problems.

Do you recall that originally my Teflon slide had way too much
friction, so I added a sheet of .032" Teflon on the downstream side.
Well, this stuff flows over time allowing tolerances to change.  I've
ordered a sheet of .032" high temp Garolite (G-7).  This should
provide a slick surface for the Teflon to slide plus be more stabe
structurally.

I only plan to make one change at a time so I will know what helps
and what doesn't.

My concern with the "Holley float bowl" idea is that every Holley
carb I've ever owned has leaked fuel sooner or later.  With the
intake located directly over the hot exhaust, I would not be
comfortable with that.  It would definitely need a catch tray.

Mark

OK NOW I remember. You have a REAL teflon slide.
There where or are two different tolerances for sheet
Teflon. The lower cost of the two had very lax tolerances
on the thickness. Perhaps plus .0032. and minus .015".
A 12 by 24 sheet cost only $90 :)

That would explain the high force.
Since you added the spacer to give more clearance to reduce the
force that would also lead to many air leaks in and around the inside
of the slide throttle. Take that thick Teflon slide out of there
and replace it with 1/4 inch thick aluminum plate and thin .032
Teflon liners. This also makes a much cheaper slide throttle as all
that Teflon is expensive. The precision ground blanks stuff is about
$250 for a 12 by 24 sheet 1/4 inch thick. 3/8th thick would be $385.
Tol is +/- .005.

As per these pictures. Note the aluminum slide in the slide throttle
kit picture. The tolerance on aluminum sheet is probably closer
to plus or minus .001. Thanks to C. Smith for these pictures.

Don't do the Garolite thing. It is useless as a gasket.

1/32 thiick Teflon is better. The tolerance on the cheap
1/32 stuff is +/- .003 and a 12 by 24 sheet is only $12.

For years Mazda rotaries had 4 barrel carbs mounted directly
over a thermal reactor to reduce unburned Hc. For some strange
reason they did not catch fire. I am not sure if it was too lean or
too rich. My guess is the fuel falling on the red hot reactor would
vaporise instantaneously. It seemed to me that would be an explosive
mixture but it never seemed to happen.

The RX2 had a tray under the carb. Here is a picture.

Paul Lamar

My RX3 never leaked fuel from the carb. They were built like
the Carter carbs and did not have float bowls hung on the side
like Holley.  The Holley's seem to leak at the gaskets for the
bowls to the body.  Carbs always seem to get a residue on the
outside from seepage but not enough to get a fire.  It seems to
evaporate before it gets to that point and the volume is so
slight.

Dale Davies