While I was trying to figure out the choke issue, my Z28 fuel lines and fuel pump came.
The pump bolted up just fine. I was pretty quick to slip my finger out of the way and slip the pump into place before the fuel-pump plunger slid back down. In all of my decades of *reading* about small block Chevys and a few years of running one on a laboratory dyno (never used a pump because the dyno fuel tank was high mounted and the carb was gravity fed), I never realized that you were supposed to pack the mechanical fuel pump cavity with heavy grease until I actually installed one. That gap between reading and talking and actually doing is a funny one sometimes.
Unfortunately, I still don't know what I'm doing when I mess with the fuel lines. They didn't quite fit. I think the 3972110 (stock LT-1) intake must have been a high-rise manifold and my Edelbrock Performer intake manifold is not. Edelbrock says the standard Performer "A" measurement (see their A/B measurement system for more details) is 3.5", while the performer RPM is 4.2". Anyway, the Performer intake, which I have, is not tall enough, so off to Monument Auto to pick up a Mr. Gasket 1" spacer. It was a lot cheaper than the Holley, Edelbrock, or Spectre spacers, at about $25. Then I saw where it was made.
I hope it fits and lasts a while -- at least until I can find a good 3972110 for less than an arm and a leg.
Oh, and I had to change a valve cover to make the fuel line fit. The Moroso tall-deck covers that the previous owner installed were just too high.
Tonight I plan to try to fit the new lines in again, this time with the spacer and see how everything plays together.
I'd better hurry up and get it driveable again. My wife's minivan has been out of the garage for a couple of weeks now and this is the rainy season.
EDIT: All screwed back together. It all fits. I'll post pics later.