Hello everyone. This is chris from west columbia. just got my first f3 and looking for some help on getting this thing running. baught a used but very clean motor for it and put it in. hooked everything up but no luck. new plugs fluids and good battery to power everything but wont stay at idle.

 

I would look at the carburetors first, they should have gotten a thorough cleaning before putting them back. You may just need to raise the idle up. They like to be around 1200-1400 once warmed up, err on the high side until you have it going. You have to start out on full choke and may need to give it a little gas the first little bit to keep it going if everything isn't perfect.

I would check the basics after that. Check valve adjustment, then compression.
The regulator rectifiers on these sometimes go out. A good thing to have around the garage is a battery tender, set it up so you can always plug it in when you store it, that will keep it topped up. Once you have that get a voltmeter and check that the battery voltage rises up with the rpms. The manual will have the procedure. Someone on here has the PDF for the manual, otherwise if you need it I can get it to you, should be on my computer somewhere.