The latest.... Chased after a misfire/stumble under load with a set of new wires and plugs this morning. Ran the wires behind the manifolds. It was a huge pain in the rump but looks great finished. Still a bit of a bird nest up by the distributor (why don't the wires ever come in the proper length?) but I think I can straighten it out some more. Need to replace that crappy looking temporary fuel line and the vacuum advance hose now.
Test drove it and its running PERFECT. Nice and smooth throughout the RPM range in all three gears. If it didn't leak oil as much as it does I would leave it alone and just drive it.
Next step is to back off the parts spending a bit and just drive it. I've got about a hundred miles on it now since the last problem so maybe I've got the bugs worked out. I'm starting a major power plant outage tomorrow that will have me out of town for weeks but will give me a chance to bank a bunch of extra money. Money to lower it or get ready for the rebuild. Maybe some of both...