OLD 78 chevy 350 carb issues

Hey,

I'm a noob at working on vehicles...(to begin with)
I had a low end bog when accelating at appx 25-35mph
this came after a carb rebuild. I was told that I could alleviate the problem by bending the arm on the acclerator pump. When i pulled the air cleaner cover I observed that the pump lever as sitting about 1/8" depressed with engine off (I'm assuming this is why I've been burning so much gas) my friend told me to bend the arm down. well, i did this and put everything back. The bog went away....for two days while it was warm. Today I woke up to snow :(. She started up fine, let her warm for 15 mins or so (she's old) and put it into gear. Small pedal mash...hesitate, almost stalls, then goes. I stopped and let it warm up some more. When fully warmed I tried to take off again, same thing...hesitate, stall...this time it died, but right before it did it made a loud CLICK sound...I'm still not sure what that sound is. I turned her around popped the hood. Is the choke supposed to be fully open w/ the engine running at idle and closed w/ the engine turned off? I'm suspecting my choke pull off is bad and that is what the click is, but for now I'm at a loss w/ no way to the part store :( please post.

With the engine warm,engine idling,the choke should be wide open.With engine shut off and warm,the choke should be open.Does the carb have an electric choke?These were adjustable.Some may have rivets that hold the assembly together.As you suspect,does the vaccum choke pull off work?If it doesn't,your choke is probably staying on.Heat riser valve?Does this work and does the passage under the carb get warm?If the valve doesn't work or if the passage is plugged,the air/fuel mixture doesn't atomize properly and can end up with too rich a mixture.
These are a few suggestions to try.
chuck's

Well, after pulling the carb I found that the cam follower was cracked and broken and not contacting the fast idle cam. With this replaced it seems to be running smooth (had to tear apart an old carb). I'm still not sure what the click was or why the choke was even operating w/o this, but for now it seems to have been amended. Thanks for taking the time to help :)