I'd put the choke plate back in.

Are you putting something over the carb to get a choke? Your thumb?

With nothing covering the opening on the front of the carb--you'll have to flip for a half-hour before it ever gets enough "suck" to pull fuel.

He needs to have the throttle fully open and the choke plate closed to get the engine to suck fuel up.

I'm running mine stock. Only thing different is a C&H ignition.

I flip the choke switch on my TX. Move the throttle stick to full throttle. Flip 3 or 4 times to pull up fuel. Turn on the ignition system and flip a couple times--till it pops once. Then turn off the choke and pull the throttle back to idle.

Flip 2 times and smile.