If the carb has a wiring hook up on the top of the carb and you don't have the wires to suport it thats your problem. This connection is an electric mixture control There are 2 electric variations of the Quad. One is just a mixture control and it sounds like this is the one you have. The other is damn near fuel injection without electric fuel injectors. This carb is know as the CCC (computer control carb). It will have a throttle position sensor located next to the throttle linkage. Since you have only indicated 2 connections I belive you have the one before it. Both will have an electric choke and if no power is aplied to the choke then the choke will stay on. It will have a round bowl on the passengerside of the carb with a single connection simular to your stock choke but without the heat pipes. Regardless both of these carbs used an ECU and a O2 sensor and will not work correctly without them. The 48 state truck didn't recive these carbs till 84 or so. Cal trucks may have recived them sooner. You just plain have the wrong crab for your truck it sounds like you need to get the right one that doesn't have the electric hook ups. Now I personaly like the electric choke set up and you can easily modify a carb off a 78-80 truck to electric choke. You simply put some vac caps on the inlet pipes and replace the adustment and heat spring with an electric unit ($27 at auto zone or you could use the one on the carb you have that will not work) The wire on the side needs to be hooked to an ignition source through a oil pressure switch so that the choke is only energized when the engine is running. The reason for this is so the choke doesn't cycle if you have the key in the on posistion without starting the engine. If you have access to the car that carb came off you can trace the choke wire back and get the harness, sensor and T fitting to make it work on your truck.
Now if you have the original carb the parts for a rebuild are cheap. About $20 if your float is good. You will however need some cleaners. Get a gallon bucket of carb/ parts cleaner and about 2-3 cans of carb cleaner spray. Your carb is to big to drop in the bucket but if you got a empty antifreeze jug you can cut the top off and the carb will fit and you can put the parts cleaner into that. leave some in the can so you can clean the small parts.
The Key to rebuild a carb is this...Clean...you must have clean place to work where you can lay out all the parts.....PAY ATTENTION to the way it comes appart.....Follow the directions to setting the float level. If you take your time this is not a hard job. it can easily be done in an afternoon. Just don't even think about removing the screws that hold the butter flies to the control rods. Leave them in place when you drop it in the bucket.
When you're done with the carb do yourself a favor and check and replace any vacum lines that are questionable. Vac leaks will run you ragged. One place many people miss vac leaks is inside the truck. The heat/air system controls are vacum operated and if there is a leak inside the truck it will cause you problems. The line that feeds to the controls runs over the top of the blower box and through the firewall on the passenger side. The T in the intake that feeds this is also prone to leaks check that. Carb cleaner is an easy way to check for leaks (just don't use it inside the truck just under the hood). If you spray it around the base of the carb and any of the vac connection if there is a leak the idle will drop. Give a shot down the throat of the carb to see what I mean.
