Another update, this one better!
So the valve was stuck, nothing in the engine was forcing it to stick, so I took it to a friend that builds engines and a case of beer later it was freed up!
Today i reconnected the choke and throttle, reconnected the carb, and tossed some gas in. Fired up and ran ok, but needs some tweaking. I do not have the tank on there currently needs cleaning and new fuel lines, so I was running it off the smallest funnel in the world so I needed to keep refilling that vs start messing with the carb and tuning it.
I did notice it got really pretty hot quick, is there anything against power washing the gunk off the engine? If I cover exhaust and carb, I should be able to spray it off right? There looks to be a lot of 30 year+ old gunk and dirt on there, so that may let it cool better once cleaned off.
Little this, little that, and I will be well on my way to its first drive under its own power, and putting the deck on and cutting my yard!
Thanks for reading, love all the advice I am getting from everyone!