cookie monster you mention goes by the name of catalytic converter. too much backpressure on these engines. i did several valve jobs on them prior to discovering this.
I also had a flooding issue on an 89, turned out that the o-ring under the injector had gone bad, swelled up, forcing the injector off its seat and puking raw fuel onto the throttle plate. new o-ring cured it.
currently building a 91 chevy sprint, metro, whatever. will be interesting to see how it runs.