Any input before I tear into it?

Just bought a 87 Ram 50 with the 2.6 manual transmission. Got a hell of a deal and am overall really pleased with how well the truck looks considering its age. Only has 88k original miles! OK back on topic.
So read under the new member page about first things I need to do and agree with them all. This was not mentioned in there and I have questions.
Truck has the original carb which a lot of people seem to be saying to switch to a weber. Currently it starts fairly easy but you have to throttle it to keep it going and it will die otherwise. I don't really want to dump a new carb on it right now, would rather rebuild the OE carb for now and just try to get it running good for now until I can get to that project. Is this even a feasible option given the symptom? The old owner sounds like he may have messed with the mix screw a bunch so I'm not to sure he didn't make the issue worse and I'm not sure where default would be.
I'm not a carb guy and have never really messed with them. I'm a Hyundai tech that only has to deal with HP fuel pumps. :grin:

lots of people hate the original carburetor but i don't think they are all that bad really. i have never rebuilt one but i ended up finding a good working one that i fixed some small issues on to make a good running one. you say the mixture screw may have been messed with so i would read through the service manual to get an idea how the adjustments go, the service manual mentions 2 ways of adjusting it, one being with an exhaust analyser and one using propane although there may be a simpler way of doing it. once your mixture is set or checked to be set correctly i would go through the troubleshooting section in the service manual and check the related components that may be causing the issues that caused the previous owner to adjust the thing. also check every inch of vacuum line under the hood for leaks, these things are like a giant vacuum computer and when they leak all sorts of problems can happen.

also does your truck have a tach or do you have a tach to connect up for testing? i would check the idle speed and make sure the timing hasn't been messed with a timing light. its possible the old owner started chasing problems that didn't exist, i did the same sort of thing when i first bought my truck, i started chasing problems that didn't exist and made a mess of things lol

Figure out what it is or isn't doing first. It is straight up a high risk maneuver to start messing with the adjustments on the Mikuni. There are things that inherently malfunction on these carbs - some are easy fixes, one or 2 aren't. Check to see what the auto choke is doing. If it's not opening it could either be out of adjustment ('can' be fixed - sometimes needs a head of a security screw ground off to access the choke gear before you can take it apart and reset it) or the wax pellet choke has failed (obvious sign is this thick looking grease all over the actuator rod sticking out of the base of the wax pellet housing) There is a choke release assist diaphragm in the choke that can fail (the diaphragm splits, the choke doesn't release properly and you have an added bonus of a vacuum leak introduced) - these do not normally come in rebuild kits, can be hard to match and not cheap either so you'll need to know what carb you actually have. Other part prone to failure is the secondary vac actuator. If it fails you have no secondary throat = no midrange to top end power, and another vacuum leak... Easy fix and can normally be done without removing the carb (some persuasion is required but violence is not an option lol) If you are not familiar with carbs, this biatch is either not the place to start or the perfect place - if you can successfully rebuild and adjust one of these, you can handle any carb.

Right on, thanks for the replies everyone. Going over to work on it tonight, gonna start with checking the adjustments and trying to get it back to where it was or as close to as possible. I'll keep ya updated on how it goes. Might just be throwing a weber at it xD

*UPDATE*
8/12
Started the evening pulling the intake hat off and exposing the carb so we could see what we were working on. Started the search into my problem by beginning at the ignition system; spark plugs, wires, cap, rotor etc. Unfortunately (I should have known better) none of the local parts stores had a cap and rotor, plug wires etc.... Did get plugs though so that was good. Gaps were out of spec on old plugs so we started there. Wires were decent but had a failed wire on cyl 4 (internal clip was not connected to wire). So... unfortunately, feel like I didn't get anywhere. Need wires, cap, rotor, timing light, and some other piddly stuff to continue on. Still leaning towards getting the Weber to eliminate the EGR valve and all the vacuum BS but haven't decided. My concern is finding a legitimate Weber as it seems fakes are abundant. Well that's my update. Will check in later as it progresses.

thats great you found the bad wire! i think thats progress! timing lights are usually cheap at thrift stores, pawn shops, etc. I see them everywhere for $5-$20 beats buying them new for $50-$80.