New engine won't run!

Ok, time to update. I haven't had much garage time in months, but the last few days have been productive. I have found and corrected multiple problems:

1. Distributor timing was off as originally suggested. I had forgotten about the gross adjustment on the underside of the distributor. It had been previously set all the way to one direction. I'm pretty sure last time the engine was apart in 1983 the distributor drive shaft was set incorrectly. Now everything lines up as per the manual.

2. I had put the carb linkage between the carbs together in such a manner that the front carb was being forced open enough to allow it to pull 5500 rpm worth of air. Once that was corrected it starts up and runs as it should.

I've seen too many 'HELP ME' posts over the years without a conclusion, so I wanted to post my end results. hopefully it will help somebody else. Thanks to all who responded.

Devin