bearing buddies will often have a rubber cover over the outside of the cap. these are the first things lost, and usually never replaced. None of mine currently have them.......
shooting some grease through the nipple does pack the bearings to an extent, but not nearly as well as doing it manually. it has to force through the front bearing, through the cavity between and then the old grease from the front goes through the rear bearing, and eventually out past the seal (not desireable). I use them to just keep a bit of "pressure" on the grease to keep the cold water of the lake from getting past the hot seals from driving. I repack manually yearly/every 2 years depending on mileage. I would use a specific marine wheel bearing grease. I dont know how well the triple lube does with the speeds and temperatures of wheel bearings. Your parts house should have this. Ours do, and is blue in color, and rated for water and wheel bearings. I use this also in my u-joints and gimbal bearing... its already in my grease gun.....
Your pump looks suspiciously like mine, I used a Sierra 18-3277 kit in mine, the front seal was a Volvo P/N 827247. to deal with the bearings will require a press, and from what I can see, they are "permanently sealed" bearings..... If you are unsure when/if your pump has been serviced, I would do it. Its cheap insurance, especially with a fresh engine going in.
if you have a 2bbl Holley, I would rebuild it. Again, fresh engine, why not.... carb kit was cheap for mine (also a 2bbl Holley) I used a cheap generic kit with a new accellerator pump diaphragm, gaskets, and power valve.... Earlier Holleys would puke the power valve if the engine backfired, but newer ones have a protection system installed. I am unsure if ours have that or not.... An extra power valve isnt a bad thing to have, same with bowl and metering block gaskets. If yours has never been serviced you are in for a treat getting the old gaskets off..... mine were stuck like $hit on velcro, and had to be soaked for a couple of days to get them off..... Next time I will use the Holley rubber gaskets, and smear a little vaseline on them so they come off.....
the choke is/should be an electrically heated bimetallic spring.... as long as it has 12v, and is properly adjusted, it does its own thing with no outside assistance.
I will say, the 2bbl Holley on my Four Winns has been a JOY to rebuild and tune compared to the Rochester 2GC on my other boat..... fewer parts, easy to adjust and tune.... and it runs a lot better as a result....
