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plasti-guage could also help with this check.

I would think a compression test would help to point to or eliminate head gasket.  Leaky intake gasket can certainly suck in oil.  My bet is intake.

I bought a repro choke cable from NPD last year - had the same problem you describe.
Ended up returning it and using my original.  Agree the inner cable is too small or the diameter of the sheath is too big.  The force is not effectively transferred thru the cable especially when "pushing" the choke back open.  The inner cable snakes side to side inside the sheath under pressure rather than transferring the force out the other end.
The repro looks right but doesn't work worth a damn.
Kurt.

You've probably checked this but is the starter gear fully retracted on the shaft?

Would the best guess be that the roll bar was installed for the 1967 or for the 1968 iteration of this car?
(it is actually surprising how complete and restorable looking this car is after so long abandoned - less drivetrain of course)

Same snake tongue fork was on my GT350 when I purchased in 1989.

so what is the purpose of these holes?

Rebound bumpers?

With the shorter fork, the 2600# clutch makes sense then. You likely will need power assist to the clutch pedal to use and aftermarket clutch with the shorter fork AND you positively will tear up and twist everything in site.

That is why most every driver car you see will have a reinforced Z-bar.  I'll bet even the light clutch caused the top arm of the bar to twist over time. 

Looking into oilite bushings to replace the crappy plastic ones.

An EBay vendor carries brass bushings to replace the crappy plastic ones.  I've had some in my Shelby for 6 or 7 years and still working good and tight.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Early-Bronco-Early-Mustang-Clutch-rod-bushing-METAL-PN-EBMCRB/261464757864?hash=item3ce0839668:g:DtwAAOxy3yNTfCNE

Here are pictures of C7ZZ-7528-H NOS Ford service part for reference.  (from VMF post in 2016)

Can you detail what you mean by "steering column shakes"?  Does the column feel loose or is it the steering wheel that shakes?  Any noise accompany it?  Do you have tilt wheel and is the tilt head tight or loose?
Kurt.

You can pull it out leaving trans. end intact.  When reinstalling just rotate a little till the square end slides into the driven gear on the other end.

The speedometer head itself can also be source of needle bounce and have seen damaged nylon gears in the odometer cause it - kind of a "once around" increase in friction leading to speed up, slow down in the movement.
Kurt.

Pretty sure transmission oil migrates in from the lower end but not enough to lubricate the whole cable.  I just remove inner and dip in motor oil.

Sounds like high resistance in the wiring from battery to horn wire or from horn wire to the horns.  Possible spot would be the turn signal connector to steering column or one of the connectors to under hood harness. Could also be dirty or bad horn switch wipers at the back of the steering wheel.
You could try measuring resistance between the cold horn wire and the horns, and the horn hot wire to battery (battery  disconnected).
Also the 67 wood wheel is known to have problems with the horn wires internally where they solder to the contact rings on the back.
Kurt.