It's nothing I can't get past, but the previous "repairs" see to make my life tougher than it needs to be.
My latest challenge is a whistling vacuum leak. Seems to be at the carb base/adapter. Should be an hour job, even with a beer in hand, right? Well, I'm at three days, and counting. So far I've found: studs & nuts that don't quite fit the carb adapter, stripped manifold threads, buggered up adapter bolts that were uber-mega-tight-enough to warp the adapter & twist my 5/32 allen socket, and a homemade gasket that looks like it was made by blind man with lefthanded kindergarten scissors.
Venting about it has made me feel a little better, if nothing else.