So what's the deal? Which carb is the right one?

There's not going to be a judge with a clipboard subtracting points because your car doesn't have a correctly-stamped carburetor. If it's a choice between those two carbs, here's 24 votes (both hands, both feet, all ten fingers, and all ten toes) for using the NOS Dodge van item, which will run much better than the 'remanufactured' '74-spec carb. As has been explained many times when you've asked, the first-year 1945 carbs were a half-baked mess with a long list of problems eventually fixed in later production, and 'remanufacturing' ruins even a good carb.
Thanks, Dan. That sounds like great advice. My difficulty in using the 902 carb from the 75-77 model year is that it appears to not be a direct "plug and play" unit. For example, there are several more vacuum ports on the Holley 1945 than on the 902 unit. So I don't know what vacuum ports go where. And as I mentioned, some of the recesses on the 902 appear to be filled in. Very puzzling. Any ideas? Thanks.