Some carb advice for a new guy.

[MisterMinty]

I recently bought a 1968 GMC with the 283 Small block.
It has a 650 cfm Holley 4165 double pumper. The first issue is the manual choke on it was broken at some point and the PO wired it closed. Once I got it home I had to take care of some things on it before I could drive it so it ended up sitting for about 3 months.

I finally finished stuff up this weekend and got it running and driving again, but it was very hard to keep it running at first, it would only run for a couple of seconds at a time, then fire back up if you pumped the pedal then started it.

After a couple of different tries I noticed it was running longer each time and after about 5 attempts spaced 45 minutes or so apart it would run and idle fine.

After a short drive I turned it off and it would not start again, when I looked there was fuel puddled on top of the manifold. I tapped the bowls with a wrench, thinking a float might be stuck. Let it sit for an hour or so and then it fired right up and drove fine (no fuel on top of manifold).

So now my questions:
1.) I assume that the carb got a bit gunky or sticky from sitting for a couple of months. Does that seem reasonable given the description?

2.) does anyone know of a replacement manual choke kit for the 4165, or know if the one from Holley that lists the 4300, 4150, and 4160 will work with this carb? (the guy n Holley tech support did not seem to think it would work)

3.) a lot of my research indicates that the stock 283 would be happier with something in the 400-500 CFM range instead of the 650. I would like to hear thoughts on this as well.

I think it will cost around $140 for the choke replacement and a rebuild kit.
If a smaller carb would be better in general, then maybe replacement is a better route?

My plan for the truck is to try to get it to a good reliable driving state and have fun cruising it, not looking for fast, or lots of power. Low and slow is my style.