Is there any mods I can do to my stock 1985 Nikki carb that are quick and effective? I do not think I want to convert the secondaries to mechanical, but is there any way I could get the secondaries to come in earlier in the vaccum setup I have now?

Also, will removing the rats nest give me more power?

Thanks for your time.

 

Manual secondaries is the way to go but to get them to open earlier by vaccum would be to replace the spring in the diaphram with a lighter one.

 

Removing the rats nest does not give any more power. It only restores power lost caused by non-functioning emissions/ vacuum leaks, etc. Unless something is broken, it will not help.
You can make the secondaries come on earlier by shortening the vac. secondaries control spring. There is a writeup about it... I cannot recall where it is though.