I am working trying to figuire if I have my timing right and if I am getting enough fuel. My carb has hissing sound/sucking sound coming from it and engine is sluggish when you hit the gas and am not getting full horespower out of engine and is sluggish.

Carb Question
I have a hissing sound coming from the carb and when you hit the gas you hear the hissing sound and engine does not respond to pedal immediately. Also if I goose throttle very quickly at carb it will sometimes backfire at the carb. I just rebuilt the carb last night (Rochestor B) but that did not seem to help at all. Also, what is the correct measurement for float level for this carb? I followed the instructions kit came with from napa to adjust float level and it was off a lot from its original position andjust wanted to verify that the napa instructions were correct since it was so far off but has not made my engine run better or worse.

Timing
I have gotten a timing light and have some questions about making sure I timed it right. I see the mark but the ball on the flywheel I am not sure about. I see what looks like a hole in the flywheel (like a quarter inch bolt hole) that I assume is the ball or where the ball use to be. Is there only one mark on the flywheel? Because this thing doesnt look like a ball to me like I have read but more like a bolt hole. Also once these are aligned I tightened everything down but is that all i need to do. I alos put the octane selector at the neutral or zero mark. Do I need to adjust this and I do not hear any pinging like I have read on this thread and any clarification of this pinging would be helpful.

Fuel Pump
I am not sure if this is my problem that contributes to the hissing at the carb but to me it seems like it may not be getting enough gas. I did rebuild the carb and look down carb and do see it spray when I goose throttle. How can I tell if this mechanical fuel pump good or bad easily.

Any help to resolve this hissing/sucking noise at carb and the lack of get up and go from the engine would be great. Thanks in advance.