too lean
 

I recently bought a 79 TA original pontiac 400 including carb. I bought the car not running. It hadnt ran in a few years. After new battery was in i got it started but ran real rough and wouldnt idle. So i changed the plugs, cap, rotor, rebuilt the carb. Adjusted the timing a little. It does run better but will only idle if the choke plate is almost closed. so.. ok its running way lean. I havent found any vac leaks. It might be possible that the primarys on the carb base plate might need bushed. there is a little play in it. I do have the idle mixture screws out a long ways. Im not a quadrajet expert at all. Is there something in the idle circuit i should look at? One thing i did try was to do was while running, open the secondaries a little and the engine revved up smoothly. That is telling me maybe something is wrong with the primary side of carb. Anything else i should look at?

The idle circuit is clogged with dirt. the fix is to tear the carb
down, vat the castings in chemicals, blow out all the passages, and reassemble with a new carburetor kit. This would be what is referred to
as a carb overhaul. If you pay a shop to do it parts and labor should be about 250.00 if they have to remove it from the car, 200.00 if you take it to
them off the car. One more thing....make sure the EGR valve is closed. If the
valve is stuck open at idle you will get the same symptom.