[RusselS]

Congrats Jesse, I picked up a one owner garage kept 53 last summer, and have been going through it from back to front.

Could be a few things, especially since you're new to the car. Fuel Pump, Carburetor (accelerator pump or power valve), even maybe broken vacuum advance (i.e. bad diaphragm) on the distributor, or even timing.

You're right, you don't need the electric pump in 95% of the cases (some people use them to prime the float bowl after sitting for a long time) but a properly functioning mechanical pump will be fine.

Usually they say rebuild the carb last, and from experience it's probably a safe bet. check the other systems around it first.

you should get the books - there's also the teapot carb manual sitting around on the old car manual project.

i found about 50 years of band-aids i've had to undo/redo to get my motor back to "stock" so now i can dial it in.

Good luck, the group here is the best.