Stupid pre-buy questions

I used a gasket scraper to get them clean. Then I filled any pits with JB Weld, let it harden, and block sanded the surface flat, then checked it against a flat surface. One other thing you should check: stand both manifolds on their sealing surfaces on a flat surface, and loosely bolt them together, then check the adjacent flanges to make sure they are the same height. The triangle washers span from the intake to the exhaust flange at these points -- if the flanges aren't matched for thickness, the washer will be cocked, and it won't apply even torque. Also, these manifolds are so long that they expand and contract lengthwise as they heat and cool -- they are designed to slide a little back and forth under the washers. A cocked washer will keep them from sliding, causing a leak, and possibly causing a cracked manifold. Your manifolds should be matched since they came with the car, but you want to make sure (one could be a replacement). I also used Hylomar high performance gasket sealant, which doesn't harden, on both sides of the gasket.

Rebuilding the carb with a kit isn't that difficult -- the hard part is getting it really clean. You might be able to send it to a shop for that. I couldn't find a local carb shop that would work on a 1bbl.