TC. I believe your carb(s) are the likely culprit, not vacuum, and that you are getting close to the prob.
Try not to get lost in the cam specs, the stroker work, etc. It will be vey easy to wander about and away form the very basic issues that might be causing your symptoms.
But understand, with a stroked motor and your cam specs, setting idle down to 850-900 will be a little challenging; But that not the issue here. The "feathering" needed to pull out to me, is a classic sign of carb adjustment or fuel feed probs
It is good you went thru adj valves, etc. You are ruling things out, but lets get back to basics
There is one huge sign to me in some of the descriptions that you mentioned that carb adj is the prob:
Idle screws: I am assuming you mean idle mixture screws. You have a front carb that is non adjustable, and the rear seems to not make a dif, whether screwed in all the way or out. This is huge signs of what might be causing the issue. I have a book full of notes, and Ill get back with you asap on how to solve that prob
What will really confound this prob in the idle circuit with two, four barrel carbs, is if both carbs are not working correct down low (in idle, at stop when first pulling out), the one carb that might be right is only really feeding four cylinders, while the other four are ether starving for the correct idle mixture, hence give it a "little toe" to keep it from starving off. A carb could be way too lean or rich in the idle mixture
If you are running a single plane intake, the prob will be even worse if you have a carb not right in the idle and transition circuit
Anyways, i have fought that prob and solved it, and Ill get with my notes and tell you what I had and get back asap. You are so close in getting to the prob, I feel for you
ngs to me