Almost blew up my car today

[WH23G3G]

Ok so I got the 6321S carb rebuilt. It idles fine and doesn't stall when driving. But it still runs down the road about the same as it did with the crappy carb I had on there before. I checked the timing because it was adjusted a little before top dead center when we were working on the carb. Well I got it back to where it should be and readjusted the idle but noticed it was still off a little on timing. So I went to readjust it and when I went to start it up the carb caught on fire. It wasn't just a little flame, the whole top was flaming. My extinguisher didn't work even though it had never been used. So I had no choice but to sprinkle it with water to get it out. It wasn't running. I tried to start it when it flamed but it didn't suck the flame down. So that was it for the night I guess I'll let it dry out and hopefully didn't damage anything. Should I take that carb off now? It's still so hard to get this thing to start up. You have to feed so much gas it seems like more than it should. It never starts right up after I shut it off. I'm about to get it towed to a shop because I can't do anything with it anymore. The guy checked the vacuum when it was idling smooth and strong yesterday and it only had like 5 or 6 inches. Does the timing affect the vacuum? I know everyone keeps telling me that I need to break in the motor and drive it. But I can't drive it like this overheating and inconsistent running. I may get stuck everytime I go out. When I get take to the shop what do I need to ask them to check?      

[71bee]

I hate to say it, but it sounds like maybe something wasn't put together right on that engine. just a speculation. with all of these problems you've been having, it might be time to tear down again. 

[WH23G3G]

Eventhough it's the first time I've put an engine together myself I'm not convinced that it's an internal engine problem and I would be the first to second guess myself on whether I could put another engine together. I asked when he was over yesterday tuning the carb if the engine sounded like it's suppose to and he agreed it did. But it's got good compression, doesn't leak any oil, doesn't smoke, doesn't use any oil, good oil pressure, and no unusal noises. I know the ignition timing was way before 10 degrees like at 4 or 5 when I checked. That's after he had messed with yesterday. I got it closer to where the specs are at 7.5 but I was at like 7 but I wanted to be closer and that's when it flamed. Because the idle changed when I adjusted the timing and I couldn't get to it to bump it up. Then it was hard start and then I'm assuming it got flooded and when I hit the key again that's when it flamed. I'm pretty confident it's all in the ignition timing and in tune of the carb. Maybe I have some of the vacuum hoses hooked up wrong. I used the 73 Chrysler chassis service manual under the emission section to hook them up but it wasn't very detailed. I'm running the OSAC and By-Pass valve like it should have. I'm going to try and get the timing back close and see if I can get it started and running enough so that I can pull it out and load it up to go to a good mechanic shop to be fully checked out.