Took me and my dad about 2hrs to do my first fork(had to make some tools, allot of dinking around). it took me 30 minutes to change the seal and refill/clean the other by myself.
Sounds like there are one or more blocked jets.I'm guessing the pilot or slow jet might have some crap in it.My XR350 had a similar prob,ended up removing the carbs & dis-assembling both(one at a time),spraying carb cleaner into every tiny orifice & passageway then blowing it out with a shot of air.After that it started on the second kick & idled great but died when I gave it full throttle...ended up being the float level on the secondary carb(too low & no gas in bowl).