Well thank you for the help everyone! The car is back to it's normal self.

In the future I will be more mindful of this air gap when problems arise again. Though with old cars, I doubt it will be the same problem twice.

1 hour ago, Usain_Boat said:

In the future I will be more mindful of this air gap when problems arise again. Though with old cars, I doubt it will be the same problem twice.

That's the great thing about owning an old car. There are LOTS of learning opportunities.