? for Pappee

[Pawoodboat]

Pappee...
been awhile since I have been on here... the old restored wooden airboat..there is a pic on here somewhere...
anyway the boats been great, but having a little trouble towards the end of last year...and now..as I am getting things ready....
18hp twin briggs and stratton.... seems to be a carb issue...I think..but dont know...not that mechanically inclined..(woodworker)..
here is the issue...
starts up.added elec start to it....(but when I run it for a while seems to cut out...or it'll run but missin a little.) then when I try to start...it wont....but... if I remove cover to carb and let it wide open..it will start right up... seems to have some gas on the cover lid of the carb too, and some gas on the neck of the carb it seems.... I tried a new airfilter at the end of last fall , before the flood... but it didnt help... had to take the cover off on the river..for it to kick in and start..ran up river a while and started fishing, and she wouldnt start on me...( anyway...do you know somewhere I could have somebody to look at it) hoping its not too hard of a fix...even if I need a new carb......its just a great little summer boat for my little 6yr old and I(it was a project for us, restoring the old wooden hull, and fiberglassed the seams..
... heck he would miss that thing more than me if I cant get it going.... ha ah.... we had some fun last summer catching bass on that thing...
thanks , any help would be great..
Pawoodboat..aka...the FISHIN RIG..