Single carburetor setup, Setup single carburetor/distributor for a 1.8 Options

[cmxiv 74]

Hi, I need to know if anyone around has a functional, decent (not performance, not perfect) setup that involves a center mounted carburetor on a 1.8 L engine. While I'm new to the subject I'm well aware about the inefficiency of the center mounted single carburetor setup on 914. Yes, it sucks ! But I have to deal with the facts and the reality. This are the facts: I bought my 74 1.8 already converted on single carburetor, (looks like a Weber, made in Spain, no other markings visible without removal) paired with a centrifugal advance distributor (not sure what model, no markings visible without removal) not know when was converted, or if the engine is stock or not. While has a decent acceleration response, decent power it runs very bad, inconsistent warm startup, high idle, rich, overall I can't find a "sweet spot". So far I changed the points, condenser, wires, spark plus, spark wires, distributor cap and rotor. The car is in what I call "active" repair/restoration which means that I have to keep it running and do work on it whenever I have the time and a place to work on it. So far is in my friends shop but while I will continue to have shop access I can not keep it there anymore, so it has to be parked on the street (it is registered and insured). For now I have to keep the car running with a single carburetor, so any other option is out.
Now... not sure if the centrifugal distributor is a good idea for this already bad setup, but I need opinion and advice from people who know how to do a proper setup for a single carb. I will add more info and photos over the next days Thank You !

PS. It looks like I have a 1.7 L not 1.8.The engine serial nr starts with EA, assigned to a 1973 1.7 L.

[cmxiv 74]

Hi everyone, Thank you all for taking time and effort to make comments and for sharing your opinions. To make everything crystal clear please consider that my question/curiosities revolved around the existent setup on my car" center single carburetor", not about the common sense/better/ideal option (double carbs, injection or engine upgrades). I will eventually get there in the future, but not today or tomorrow. At the end of the day I would like to find a solution with the existing setup in place that will make sure the car can be started and driven (enjoyed) at least 100 miles/month for the next 6 months. The "to do list" on my car is pretty long, so due the "logistic reasons" I want to be sure that I can do as much as possible with the car in decent running condition before I will tune or replace the engine. Great/best performance, squeezing the last joule per second or a tiny fraction of HP from the engine or the mileage are not the issue right now.
So, not knowing who made the conversion back to the day (shop, garage, back yard) I have not clue if the came was swapped for the correct one (carburetor optimized) so I will presume was not. I will go to the shop over the weekend, pull out the carb and distributor, get all the info I can get from both parts and post it here to continue with fresh data.
As a personal curiosity...Just asking... My setup, the single central carburetor conversion kit was available on the market decades ago, people used this option for various reasons, (well... one...it was the cheapest). So how, over the years the shops or mechanics got away with using this very setup since there are so unreliable, horrible, snake oil POS and junk ?, After all when the client took his car out of the shop after a conversion it's supposed to run decent, no? Clients usually do not pay to have their vehicle grossly downgraded and turned unreliable? To add to the confusion after so many years the "single" kits are still offered for sale ! Again, just asking...

On a different note, just as info: Repairs I did myself: rebuild the brakes/calipers (not easy, not even close to any regular brake job repair due to the lack of documentation and the cumbersomeness of the design), (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif) fix the "imploded" clutch tunnel (a PITA, especially with limited welding shop tools) fixed the throttle cable tunnel, a huge array of electrical issue (including an preexisting hidden short that melted a bunch of wires under the dash, fire extinguisher required ), headlights, mechanical and electric, working from home on the upholstery (desert stored car... all the vinyl upholstery dead dried, crumbled, brittle and cracked), transmission shifter & linkage rebuild (I end up machining myself some Delrin bushing and metal sleeves... the aftermarket parts ordered were way beyond the specs... junk)