I seem to remember that the stepper allows air from a port coming in from the main throat of the plenum (concentric to the stepper hole) to take a 90 degree turn through a small port on the inboard side. You'll need to jam something in to block both holes- I think I wrapped a drill bit in insulation tape until it was a snug fit when I set my base idle.   This was all quite a while ago though so I may be talking total piffle.