Thank you for all the great insight, guys. I am concerned with the idea that as time passes, the number of people alive who can properly restore these carbs is dwindling. For the cost of a full blown restore (even at $1,000) it's still not bad compared to buying new reissues, or changing it all up for a Weber setup. The perspective on date codes and levels of concourse judging is also quite helpful, as my car is not a candidate for that class. I've been blessed by the previous owner's diligence in assembling all the right pieces for my car, many of which are NOS and properly date coded, however it was a NY car and had lots of sheetmetal replaced. While it will be as correct as possible, it had been ripped apart, customized, rotted out, blown up and left for dead. Too many knuckleheads had their way with this poor car to make it fully concourse, at least on my budget (which is completely blown).
I'll give Joe a call and go that route with my carbs.