Thanks for all the input folks!
As of right now I have pulled my carburetor and went back and reviewed what I did when I rebuilt it in 2007. There is only 1200 miles on that that carb, but I did notice that I had made a note about some missing felt washers in the rebuild kit. They were little felt washers that were suppose to be slipped over each end of the throttle shaft. I can see that there was leakage there on the outside. Finding a tiny felt washer to seal the leak around the throttle shaft would be impossible, so, I made my own out of leather. I took 1/8" thick leather, cut it to a 1/2" square and punched a 5/16" hole in it so it would slip over the throttle shaft. Then I split that little piece of leather in half to get two 1/16" thick leather washers and installed them. After putting the whole carb back together I put a little 3and1 oil on those leather gaskets. Worked like a champ!
I totally understand "Joe H's" comment about the power circuit. I didn't break down the carb this time because I've already been there on a rebuild and I didn't want to screw up all the gaskets. So, I'm gambling that they supplied me with the correct parts to preform a decent rebuild and are functioning correctly.
I'm really glad that I had to pull the carb again just to address those two little seals, because I was shocked what I found when I disconnected the gas line! Earlier on this thread we were going through and trying to figure out if the fuel pump was "the problem". "Hotrod Lincoln" gave me some very good info on fuel pump inlet vacuum and outlet pressure. Well, I tried to check the outlet pressure of the old fuel pump with my pressure/vacuum gage. On the positive side of the pump I had disconnected the gas line just before the carb . I inserted the plastic tapered fitting on my tubing connected to the gage into the gas line to try and get a reading. To shorten this story, the gasoline attacked the plastic and it broke off inside the gas line steel tubing. I wasn't aware of that until today. With the new fuel pump installed it pushed the broken off plastic tapered tip forward enough so that I was able to extract the plastic piece out that was hampering the fuel flow to the carb. WHAT ARE THE ODDS??.
Today I also installed the 180 degree thermostat, however, not without, "silly me", forgetting to install a "new" thermostat housing gasket. A run down to NAPA solved that "airhead" moment.
I've got one more thing I want to do before I take Lucille on a run. Just an annoying "leak" (4 letter word) from her tranny. I used a non-seize bolt material on the threads of the drain and filler plugs and the gear oil is leaking past this material. Gonna drain the tranny and put some leak proof sealant on the threads of the plugs and refill the tranny. Don't want to screw up my tranny!!
Once again, I'M EXHAUSTED OVER HERE!!
Oh, BTW, tomorrow I promised my wife that I would get away from Lucille and give her (my wife) a little attention. Like getting out for a "little Sunday lunch"!
On Monday I'll give you all a performance report. Hopefully "climbing hills" is not an issue any more!!
