carb cleaning

i usually have my carbs cleaned each year by the dealer, but i want to do it my self this year. Do you just have to clean out the opening where the gas comes out, or do you have to take them apart? What do you use to clean them?

I can tell you what I do:

First I Remove the carbs, completely disassemble them, I then use a brake parts cleaner to clean out all the jet's and passages, I then blow everything out with compressed air and visually inspect the holes in the jets and stuff. I then Adjust the float height and syncronize them, set up the mixture screws and reassemble.....

the thing is, I am sending my engine to be ported, so thats out of the way, so the carbs will be pretty much exposed, so would I still have to take them out? About how long did it take you total?

You should clean the carbs every year regardless, you are probabaly looking at a couple of hours to do a good thorough job.