Jack, thank you for responding. I was surprised to find the gasket in my carb blocking a passageway, the more so because the previous owner of my truck impressed me as a real hands-on, experienced, kind of guy with these trucks. I, myself, am a novice. I found it so hard to believe my own eyes when I saw the gasket that I even began to wonder whether it was intended as some sort of performance improvement. I spent a lot of time researching online because I was looking to see if there was any empirical or anecdotal evidence to be had in support of blocking that passageway. Of course, there is not. Quite the contrary. My research only confirmed that a carburetor must be maintained precisely as called for by its manual. I sent an email to the previous owner of my carburetor, along with the photos that I posted here, but he has yet to respond.
All in all, if my mpg and starting improves after this rebuild, I will be very happy. Plus, after these several days of research, and doing the rebuild, I feel that I have earned my diploma for Roch B rebuild. I guess that is the name of game with these trucks!
I see you are in Maine. In the very near future, some months, I am moving from Brooklyn to Linneus, which is just south of Houlton. Alden
