Keep pluggin away at it Gerig. You will eventually figure it out and when you do you will be a better mechanic. This is how you learn things. I know it is sometimes frustrating but replacing it is the expensive and easy way out. I can't tell you how many times a customer brings in his car with a trunk full of replaced parts only to find that he still has a problem and can't figure out why he is broke! Its amazing they have a short in the wiring and by the time he gets the car to my shop it has a new alternator, new battery, New cables, new starter etc. And theres nothing wrong with the old parts! Hell we put our shop car together from mostly customer discarded parts! Its hillarious! I would suggest taking the carb completely apart and soak everything in carboline for a few hours and and put it back together with a new kit and all metering rods and jets that were original to that carb. 9 out of 10 times a piece of dukey is blocking an orifice and reaking havoc on your engine and mind. This is probably why everything that you have tried that should have worked didn't.....Goodluck.