Carb vacuum hose issue? Formerly voodoo carbs

[twistit]

This may be time to slap forehead.  It now occurs to me that I may have screwed the pooch when putting the '97's carbs back on.  The left carb gets the vacuum line to the petcock, but what about the right carb?  At one point I read that one should make sure that the rubber vacuum plug boots should be in place.  I didn't realize that a) they were referring to later carbs or b) they were referring to the booted vacuum nipples on the TOP of the carbs next to the diaphragm caps.  So I put a plug boot on the vacuum nipple on the right carb, assuming that if the left one was working the fuel pump diaphragm, and thus ultimately blocked, the right one should be blocked too. 

Could this be what is making the engine run lean?  I'm really scrambling for answers.  Fresh engine rebuild, put the untouched carbs back on (untouched except for said rubber plug on the right vacuum nipple) and the engine runs lean.  But then how can that be, since that effects only one carb?  Plus, both plugs read the same.  I've subsequently drilled out the main jets by about 4 jet sizes and got the plugs to read normal from previously reading white.  But it still overheats.