My car's pissing me off.

So after the whole smog fiasco, I had to re-tune my carburetor.

Well now she really doesn't want to start up after sitting overnight. Here's what happens:

1st crank : Starts right up and dies.
2nd crank: Crankie,crankie,crankie,crankie,etc.
3rd crank: Sometimes it starts right up, sometimes it just cranks and cranks.

In that case I have to get my instant starting fluid, spray it 3 times into the air filter hole...(You know that hole that sticks out..I can't remember the name right now.) and boom, it starts right up and runs /idles perfectly.

I have a feeling that the float is messed up or the whole carb is crap. When I bought it last year the owner told me he "Put in a new carburetor." ...Judging from his previous "repairs", I'd say he messed up the carb in some way.

Any troubleshooting tips/techniques? I'm not going to be able to get under the hood until Sunday though...But hey I have 5 days off in a row so I should be able to fix it...I just need ideas...I have 4 Plymouth books and I'm kinda scared to take apart this carb...I've taken apart SU and Weber but never Holley and I've heard horror stories about taking them apart!

This is what's going through my head with every problem I have with this car:
Previous owner ->:violent1: <-Me