I opened up my carb today and was surprised to find a 102 main jet with a 35 pilot jet. I put in a 110 because it was running lean and lacked power at WOT, we'll see if runs any better.
The only rod is one that the float pivots on, it's knurled on one end to keep it captive, so if it's loose it may jam the fuel inlet with the needle valve.
You can check to see if all the vac lines are attached, there's one on the bottom of the carb from the fuel vapor recovery cannister, if it's off or leaking , the engine can't run.