Alright so the culprit is the o-ring that sits on the inlet to the head - when i installed it, it came unseated from the groove so the whole inlet was not flat and sealed. Losing fuel and gaining air. The o-ring actually tore so i'm waiting on a new one to proceed.

 

Very easy method of checking lean condition is to pull the spark plug to check the color of the insulator should be tan to brown not white which tells you your way lean #basics