I am still slowly working my way through the starting and idling issues I have had since I purchased my series 3 lightweight. The acuspark ignition system has been tested out after removing the dissy, coil plugs and leads and setting up a bench. All 4 plugs show a good strong spark. I have also replaced the battery, which cranks the engine over a treat. I carried out a compression test on all 4 cylinders which came in at around 160PSI. Cylinder 2 was down slightly at 145PSI but after checking on the 'net', this would appear to be acceptable.
Now it starts better but as the day progresses, the plugs become sooted up and the starting and idling become an issue again, along with trying to pull away (it stutters and cuts out). The mixture is clearly far too rich but various attempts at trying to adjust have been fruitless. Are there any refurb kits that anyone would recommend for the carb (Solex 361V)? Not sure wether its worth trying a refurb kit or just biting the bullet and getting a refurb carb from the carburetor exchange. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Try ClassicCarbs UK, may well have parts/info you need.

Richard hall has a kit that ensures the carb is ethanol resistant, he reworked the Indian knock offs to be decent.

He's on eBay. Glencoyne engineering.

Update:

I have removed the carb today and stripped. What I have found is that it appears thet the idle control screw has been tightened in far too tight and has distorted the carb body (see attached photo). The brass screw has also what appears to be excessive wear on it, to the point where the tapered end appears to be concave. Has anybody else seen this???
Hopefully this is the root cause of the plugs sooting up as the mixture is far too rich