Yes, once I realized the gaskets were copper washers. I replaced them and the orings. I hear your concerns on the age and overall condition of the engine. I adjusted what I think is the high idle... I found it very interesting that the wire locks had been removed. Obviously it had been adjusted at some point before.
The decompression lever wasn't making contact when rotating the engine over manually. I'm not sure how to check while running. I'll have to go back under the valve cover to adjust the valves. I didn't adjust previously as I wanted to minimize making changes and adjustments until I had it running. The valve lash seemed excessive to me. However, I didn't break out the feeler gauge and measure it.