Throttle Travel and Drive Belt Questions

[76C10Stepside]

Just took my 1976 C10 stepside out of the garage for the first time in awhile. There are two issues that I'd like to resolve so I can start driving it again. Could use some help resolving these.

1. The throttle responds WAY too fast. Just a light tap on the gas pedal revs it right up. This problem started AFTER I rebuilt the carb, replaced the throttle plunger (which collapsed after rebuilding the carb), and finally anchoring the accelerator cable on the engine side. Before all this, it had very little throttle response. I didn't drive the truck much and just lived with it. I BELIEVE the reason the throttle is way too sensitive now is because the cable no longer slides when I press on the gas, but I'm not absolutely sure. A previous owner swapped in a V-8 from a Caprice, and it did not have the mounting bracket for the throttle cable on the intake manifold (was probably on the firewall in the Caprice). INFO:

• Carb is a Rochester 2GC "2 Jet" 2-bbl.
• The carb's throttle cam/lever has 1-3/4" of travel.
• The gas pedal has 2" of travel.
• Don't know how much gas pedal travel it takes to achieve wide open throttle.

Please see attached photo. Is the throttle lever/cam on this carb the same as it is on the trucks, or is it shorter?
The only ideas I've had to fix this are a) extend the length of the throttle cam/lever to get a longer ratio of travel, OR b) buy a new carburetor.
Anybody know what's going on here and how to fix it?

2. The drive belt for the power steering pump squeals like a stuck pig. I bought a new cut belt that was supposed to be the correct size (IIRC, it was the cheaper Gates), and it has squealed like this ever since. Have tried spraying Belt Ease and adjusting the tension. It's pretty tight now. Nothing I've tried helps. It's really bad when I first start the engine after it has been sitting. The belt LOOKS like it fits correctly.
Short of buying a high quality WRAPPED belt, any suggestions on how to fix this?

Thanks!