You might also want to check the float needle seat. It should have a seal washer under it where it screws into the carb body. Without it, the whole assembly would sit lower and possibly explain the need to bend the tang more to achieve a proper setting.
Because of the big discrepancy in position and angle of the float tang I feel certain I will need to bend the float pivot bracket to a sharper angle which will allow me to bend the float tang up level where it should be.