I'll write a bigger post once I get my new flywheel in the mail, but I bought an OEM carb (finally had a paying job so i splurged) and that fixed it instantly. I had already replaced the fuel line but i don't think that was bad, but it did look like it would kink and fail in a year or two. the real issue was the aftermarket carb, the gasket that makes up the fuel pump was slightly overlapping the sealing gasket, so it didn't pump correctly. I haven't tried putting the old carb back on, but i bet if you took a razor to it it would have worked. i'll do that and leave it in the spares bin. a little annoyed at myself, i thought the flywheel had worked loose, but the clutch also worked loose right away, and I'm afraid i might have had it apart ot look at something and forgotten about it, and just ran it with everything finger tight. cost me a flywheel when it spun loose and the crank pin acted like a nice boring bar... for the 10 minutes i got to use the saw however it was quite nice to use, easy starting and idling. i pulled the spark arrestor to let it run cool as possible for the first 3 tanks (planned at least) and will put it back in. I don't know how much of a difference it makes, but the thing sure is loud without it. although with my track record, i should probably check hte muffler bolts...
stupid is expensive.