my first carb rebuild, done, but adjustment question

1969dodgedartgt said
I dont think that spring is the cause of my problem.

It's definitely a contributing factor.

The way this carb works, the pump spring doesnt seem vital (yeah that sounds stupid and is probably wrong)

It's definitely wrong. If the spring weren't vital, it wouldn't've been there originally. You do need it, and it does need to be the right one.