After some serious heat up and cool down and run time with the manifold, I am happy to report no leaks at all - no white smoke out of either exhaust pipe (it was supposed that coolant was getting into one of the runners). The fella that had to return the intake to me had to have been mistaken.

The teapot that I rebuilt fired up just fine and idled well on my 292 on the test stand, but would not rev at any temp/time on the stand unless I closed the choke plates about 3/4 of the way. Nothing changed no matter how hot the engine/intake/carb got or how cold they were. Made no difference. When the choke plates were 3/4 of the way closed, the carb responded like a champ, and blipping the throttle and "feeling" the revs was no problem. I was a little nervous because it surely sounded different than the old 2 barrel carb setup I had before...so I did not crack the throttle enough to get the secondaries to kick in (how much would they kick in with no load anyway?) I know the ignition is perfect, but the carb seems to be starving for fuel unless the choke plates are almost closed, what gives? Any ideas?

This is a 56 carb on a 55 intake...ECZ 9510 B   List 1161

First off, I doubt the secondaries will ever open without a load.  The lean condition could be caused by too small jets in the primary, but they would have to be awfully small, the originals were probably in the mid fifties in size.  So it comes down to clogged passages or clogged air bleeds in the primary circuit.  You need to go through the carb again, paying attention to passages and air bleeds.

Closing the choke creates more vacuum on the fuel delivery passages, which causes more fuel flow.  Kinda like a straw in a soft drink, the harder you suck on the straw the more drink you get.