With your intakes upside down, your carbs are tilted up in the back. That's gonna affect float height as well as fitting the side covers. Might have some petcock interference too.
Correct. The carb flange face on the head is angled forward slightly. The boots are cut (angled) to compensate for that. With 'em upside down, you're gonna find that nothing's gonna want to fit.Is that not the case because of the way the boots are made?