Yes I checked the plug wires to make sure I don't have any crossed and double checked and I will check again before I start it again.

First of all set the floats, upside down and level is indeed a good starting point.

Idle metering screws at 1 1/2 turns out.

Next, your rear jets are WAAY too big. Mid '70s would be more like it. Stock is 76, and most Holleys are set up pretty close out of the box.

then work on timing.

R.

Also keep in mind you said you have a stock distributor. Stock distributors have WAY too much timing built into them. That's why IMO when you set your total to where you want it, you won't have enough initial for it to want to run cleanly.

It's a double pumper and the rear jets are 9 sizes too big. The double pumper secondary opens with the throttle, not by engine demand. So at anything beyond a little above idle you are getting way too much gas.
Add to that the fact that your first run had the floats set waaaay too high and you can see where overfueling problems may crop up. Yuck's approach is good but I'd change it one way: Before you do anything else get a set of 76s in the secondary metering block! Also if your floats are plastic see if they will actually float in gasoline or if they are full of gasoline and sink. This could be half or more of your problem. If they are brass see if they slosh. Submerge the brass floats in hot water and watch for bubbles. The hot water will expand the air inside and if there's a leak there will be bubbles.

R.

In my reading on Holly carbs, on a vac carb the rear jetting can vary up to 10 sizes larger than the front if they are changeable.
this has worked very well in my apps

I dont run DP carbs but on them the secondary jetting is the same size as the primaries.

of coarse there may be curcumstances where this doesnt apply.

My floats are brass and they are dry nothing inside of them. I set the floats to level as suggested and will re-adjust them once the motor is running. I had it running and had no fuel leaking into the air horn so I think the floats are ok now most likely a little low. I'm in the process of changing the plugs so far I have 2 that were firing ( the 2 center plugs on the drivers side) but I still have 2 more plugs left to be changed. The secondary jets are 85 those are the Holley factory size jets.

I found 2 more plugs that were running for a total of 4 good ones and 4 bad ones the 2 centers on the drivers side and the 2 back ones on the passenger side . I'm getting ready to start it now. I will stay out of the secondaries until it's good and warm just in case those jets are too big.

OK, I dug deeper. The 4780 and 4780-1 had power valves in the secondary meteroing block and indeed had 76 jets in the secondary. Later 4780s, the 4780-2 and up, had no rear power valve and 85 jets in the secondaries.
So you should be good to go.
It's good to hear your floats are definitely OK.
R.

before you fire it crank the idle screw up. Then slowly back it off and see what happends. If you start to have gas pour out of the vents you have a float or fuel pressure problem. I'll go with float. Something is dirty or they are just too high. After you fix that you can re-set the timing. Too much rear jet, timing off and wrong PV aren't going to cause fuel to come out of the vents.

He said it appears the floats are set right now, no more fuel geysers.....
R.

Ok I just ran it again and it ran like crap again. I didn't have any fuel dumping out of the carb so that's a plus. But it wasn't running on all cylinders. From the exhaust temps it looks like the cylinders that didn't run before the new plugs are now running but the ones that did run before the new plugs are not running now. I'm getting spark to all of the wires. I checked them by putting my timing light pick up on each wire and pulling the trigger and all of the wires had a blink or a signal. The wires, cap, plugs and rotor are new so I don't understand what's going on here..

I checked the floats and they are perfect. I took the sight screws out and had no fuel coming out but when I shook the car side to side a little trickle of fuel would come out.

If you had enough fuel in it to make plugs fouled and wet, I'd be looking at the oil in the pan to make sure it's not diluted or you'll have more than carb problems!!

I smelled the oil yesterday after I saw the fuel soaked plugs and it didn't smell like gas at all and it looked clean too. Is this starting to sound like a cam problem ? should I start another thread ? or keep going on this one ?

It's better to stick with one most of the time. That way we can see what's been covered already.

Ok I will keep going with this one. I took the valve covers off and all of the intake push tubes are bent and some are completely off the rockers. One is broken I think and is laying down in the valley. What would cause this ?

what brand plugs are you running

I'm using Autolite #23 plugs.