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Oh, yes, I know exactly what your problem is. The "Thin strip of metal" which fell out of the advance mechanism is one of the advance weight springs. Earlier advance flyweight assemblies used a flat spring system to keep the flyweights biased inwards. These were riveted to a cutout in the flyweight. Over time, the rivets work loose and/or the springs get old and crack and fall off. It'll fire, all right, but as soon as it fires, the advance system jumps to "maximum advance" since there is no spring on one or both weights to hold it in, and it won't stay running. Sorry about that. I don't think it's practical to repair unless you have the materials and facilities to make a new spring (after measuring the old one), drill out the rivet and replace it. And, if it's that worn, likely the flyweight pivot bushings and pins are all wore out too. This will lead to irregular advance action and rough running. New flyweight/auto advance assemblies are available, they cost about $60. These use a coil spring system which does not fail in this way. If you choose to go that way, I'd spring the added $5 for the two bushings that the assembly runs in. These are easy to replace and will ensure an advance assembly that runs smooth and tight. The rebuild is easy to do with common shop tools - the only thing that may be tricky is driving the new bushings out and in. HTH llater, llamas
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