Hi, Charlie, and welcome to the forum. Rescue work is a lot of what the forum is all about, along with soooo much spot on information about how to keep these ol' gals running in fine condition.
If you haven't already, do a complete routine maintenance and make sure all the base line fundamentals are checked out-- plugs, points, valve adjustment, cam chain, carb sync, etc. From there, you can begin to break down any issues. Maybe your idle issue is just the air screw adjust. From full in (gently seating) then 1 5/8 turns out? The official spec is where you start.
Use the FAQs as there's tons of good info already posted. You'll be amazed at the level of detail. But be prepared to do some digging, compare comments and go from there.
Keep us posted on your progress.
