The 914 instruments are just that, instruments. They aren't the toy instruments made in China crap that so many Speedsters have. You'll be fine, Jim.
That Samba mod is neat, but I see no provision for springs at all to compensate for engine widening. The engine widens about 1/4" when fully warmed up. My heim mod has springs between the rod ends and the hexbar on both sides to compensate. Jim, I like how you did yours, it looks great.
My heims and steel rod lasted 40,000 miles. I just replaced it all, for a paltry $20 bill. The steel rod I used was soft, and eventually wore a little to create some minor slop. This time I tapped the end of the hexbar after drilling it deeper and tapping for 5/16" x 18 thread. Loctited some grade 8 bolts in there, and wacked off the heads with a die grinder.
Here's the original post from 2006:
http://atszxzj.spyderclub.com/...f5dbc48371668936100c
And with respect to the fuel pump, just get the Carter 3 to 3.5psi self-regulated rotary pump. It even comes with a pre-installed metal can pre-filter. No regulator, no pressure gauge needed. Simpler is better in this case. Run your metal line to the back and Tee to the carbs. My fuel line is all metal except for the tank to pump, pump to metl line, and a short piece to each carb. Done.