I just rebuilt my carb and have had a little trouble locating a new EFE heater grid, since the kit only came with a regular gasket. I was wondering before I bolted the carb back to the manifold what the downside would be to putting the plain gasket on there. I know having no EFE would mean possibly harder startups in cold weather, and probably having to alter the throttle linkage since it was a little thicker than the plain gasket, but other than that would I need to do other adjustments?

What's wrong with reusing your stock grid?

There are a couple spots on it that make me a little doubtful of how well the seal would be between the carb and the manifold.

I would hit those spots w/ some sealant, or find a junkyard EFE, but that's just me.