Edelbrock 1406 whistling
like I said......vacuum leak!
LOL
well it was not ALL for nothing.....you obviously did have your base plate gaskets in the wrong order and you also had a leak at the base where you sprayed carb cleaner at it......so atleast you have the peace of mind of knowing those are fixed.
sometimes you beat the hell out of yourself looking for a problem and you get so much input on what it COULD be....that you skip right over the obvious....it happens to alot of us.
glad you got it fixed finally and that all is well!