OK, 1 problem down, 1 to go
The slow/labored starter problem turned out to be a bad firewall ground. The connections were tight but the firewall connection had some white crap (buffing compound? from the recent body shop visit) under it. I moved the engine-to-firewall ground strap to a better location and that solved the slow starting problem.

Tomorrow, I'm going to retard the timing and see if it will fire.

I really appreciate all the replies. Thanks!

Now if someone could do something about Ike....