1965 Evinrude 6 hp low speed needle tip busted in jet

Hello,

I'd like to preface this by saying I have a few other posts that haven't shown up yet as they are waiting to be approved by a moderator, but in the meantime I figured out what my carburetor problem is. I wasn't able to get my motor to idle at all, let alone run at low speed. I talked to a few people around town and someone mentioned that the tip of the low speed adjustment needle might have been busted off in the low speed jet. Low and behold, the tip of my low speed needle is suspiciously flat at the tip of the needle. I know I can get a new low speed adjustment needle for the motor, so my question now is, is there a way for me to get the tip of the old needle out of the jet before I waste money on buying a new needle? This motor is my grandpas motor, so it has a lot of sentimental value to me. I caught my first fish in a boat with this motor on it. It would mean a lot to me if I could get it running properly again, so any suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time guys, and sorry again for adding another post before the others are even up yet!

Update:

I took the carburetor off again and looked in every orifice I could. They were all clear with tons of air flow. Out of desperation I bought a can of sea foam top engine spray. Followed the instructions on the can, and the water after was sludge colored. Got new water in the can the motor was in, ran it more, and that water turned black. So needless to say the old girl was gummed up. I'm now able to use the low speed needle to make adjustments, but even where it runs the best it refuses to stay running in the slow throttle position. I'm mainly going to be using this motor for fishing, so the slower I can go the better. Do I just need to keep running the crap out of the motor, or is there anything else I should look at?

thanks for your time guys!

Get a carb kit and give it a complete rebuild. Use a sheet metal screw and pull the round plug on the top of the carb that will give you access to the slow needle port. Soak it overnight in carb cleaner and then blast all the circuits with high pressure water and follow up with air. I just use a socket half the size of the plug and tap it close to flat and then seal the edges with loc-tite. If you did not replace the needle do so now then you should be able to fine tune it. Lightly sand the flang on the carb on a glass table with 200 grit paper until it all shines the same just pull the carb in one direction only. Do not put finger pressure on the float pull the float to bend it so it is level with the carb upside down. Do not over tighten it down just pull it down slow with a new gasket (always) until nice and snug.
http://www.marineengine.com/newparts/part_details.php?pnum=OMC0439071

This was all done after a carb rebuild. I had gone to a local evinrude dealer to pick their brains, and was basically blown off. They told me that the low speed needle was most likely busted off in the valve and I was screwed. All the symptoms I was having made sense with that, and the needle was ever so slightly flat at the tip, but when I had taken the carb back off (4 th time checking it) everything was clear and open. So I'm assuming the needle is just flat ever so slightly (thousandths of an inch) from 52 years of use. After the sea foam the needle actually started to adjust things too, which it hadn't before. So I don't think it's the carburetor anymore, though now that obread your response I do believe I had added some pressure to adjust my float... I'll keep that in mind for next time. At this point I'm just trying to figure out why it still does in the slow throttle position. Would it help if I listed out everything I've done with the motor so far? If so I can do that. Thanks for the tips! I feel silly about the float now ��

I had posted a reply almost a week ago that never showed up, and I've gotten the boat out since. Boat can troll ok, but still spits and sputters. Stalled out on me a couple times. The thing I discovered was that the motor runs best at quarter choke. Any more and it does, any less it shakes and sputters and tries to die out. This would normally make me think my carb has a dirty or clogged jet, but I've already checked the carb several times even after rebuilding it. Should I be looking at the fuel pump next, or looking for an air leak somewhere? Thanks for any help.