Another update: Put the new fuel bowl housing on it, replaced all old rubber lines in the system and that cleared up all the leaks. Still runs like crap for a bit when i start it cold after sitting a few days but it does clear up a lot quicker. Maybe 10-15 seconds now. The trick where you cycle the glow plugs again as it's sputtering seems to help a lot too. Starts without giving it any throttle at all when it's warm too, which it wouldn't do before. Thanks for all the input guys. I wouldn't have known that this was normal behavior without your help. I think I'm going to call this issue fixed now.