Fuel Leak revisited and carb question

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   So.... I removed my carb tonight as it has been leaking fuel at the intake manifold gasket (or at least thats what I think). Carb looks good inside, very clean. Since it has been running well, I don't think I need to tear it down. I, like others here suggested, thought the fuel leak was probably due in part to the fuel pressure and the solex carb. So, I thought about a pressure regulator. Nevertheless, the carb is off so I'll replace the gasket. But now that I look down that intake, I can't think of why the increased fuel pressure would cause the fuel to leak out the gasket. In fact, I doubt it has anything to do with it. Thoughts??
Also, is this heat shield supposed to be here...? 

I haven't seen it anywhere else. 

I'll replace the gasket (which looked good!) and see if that stops the leak. If it doesn't, I'll install the pressure regulator. I'm resisting the pressure regulator because a) I'll have to cut into the fuel line (all metal from pump to tank) and b) I don't want to add anything to the engine that isn't absolutely necessary. 