There is no bowl cover, the instructions should say dust cover.
Your BBD should have the pump shaft's tip adjusted to 1/2" below the level of the dust cover surface after the idle speed screw has been set to 2 turns in. There should be a 1/2" gauge to set it with in your rebuild kit.
Also make sure the step up piston adjustment is correct.
The BBD (from a 318) on my 225 '84 D100 was running badly from being too lean as a result of the new 10% ethanol gas. I turned the screw in shown in step one to fatten it up till I can jet it up one size, it lifted to rods up just enough to get me by for now. The Super Six BBD on my 225 '79 Aspen seems to be uneffected from the 10% gas.