Well, at the end of the day, I think all I managed to do is eliminate balanced carbs as the source of the issue. Had it idling nicely, even not stalling in gear at one point, but it wasn't consistent. now back to starting point i think. Nice that I know how to do it though. Will go get new vacuum tubing this week and do that on principal, seems to be everyones fallback diagnosis, although I cant seem to locate a leak anywhere.

Heat risers, couldnt see anything that fit the description, although on the front carb there is a metallic coil/spring that is obviously broken/out of place. will look closer into that on the next go round....

hmmmarrghhhh....

Thanks for the assistance though, nice to have suggestions and info!

Marc