Thanks everyone. It ended up being both the float and needle. Everything is taken care of and its running great and receiving a oil change currently..

I'm trying to help my neighbor get his old 55 going. It has a small block with a edelbrock 1406 600 cfm carb. I can get the car to run and keep going as long as I hit the gas, but it won't idle or run at a steady rpm. I'm guessing there is a float issue or something like that but I'm only really familiar with the holley's so I'm not to sure where to start. The car has been sitting for 2 years but has fresh gas. It also seems to be puking some gas from the top of the carb.

Any idears?

Thanks!
-Jon

Stuck needle and seat due to old fuel sitting in bowls.
How much fuel burped over and how long did you try to run it that way. Any amount of gas going in like that should have the oil and filter changed to get excessive gas out of the oil.

If it's not a stuck float valve, check the accelerator pump diaphram for tears/leaks.

I'd pull the top off of the carb & see what you see.

Sounds like a classic case of stuck float or needle valve.