Again - very grateful for the help. The starter motor (on cursory examination), appears that it will hit the steering sector housing if turned down but I am going to give it a go. I will keep you posted!
On the control rods, I agree that the large bend seems unwieldy and that turning the motor down makes sense, however, the Light Six service manual has a picture (2M) that appears to show the throttle rod very bent like mine - any thoughts on this?