Won't start

Not sure if this is the perpective you were looking for, but here's a shot of the top of the carb showing the choke rod.
carb-2.jpg

Nice call on the vacuum line from the carb to the thermo sensor mounted inside the air cleaner - the nipple on the air cleaner side was open. I tested that nipple with a vacuum pump and I'm barely able to get a little bit of vacuum that doesn't hold for long, so I need a new sensor. The air control valve closes if I apply vacuum to it directly, so that still seems to be good.

-JP