I guess I should conclude this thread by saying I passed this stove to a good friend, who will probably be using it as a decoration. He already owns a combination stove, and burns wood most of the time, but coal during what he considers the cold spells. And he's satisfied with the results. He hasn't the need to operate this Godin, but likes the style, and will put a nice shine on it to display for purely cosmetic reasons.
When we unloaded it off my truck, we started blowing out all the rodent crap that had been accumulating in the combustion chamber for...years? It was disgustingly filthy, but amazingly once clear the grate and push rod actually operated correctly. Even the brick liner was in good shape. I thought it had potential to run, "until" we spotted some severe rot on the barrel, along with a big crack on the rear heat exchanger. And I was also impressed that the ash pan was still in place....until we battled removal, and found it so far rotted, it only had 3 sides. So, yeah, it could be brought back to life, with some time and work, which neither of us were willing to commit to. So a carport queen is what it'll become, for a while anyway. Because it's such a good looking stove, I'm happy we've at least prevented it from becoming scrap metal. So to all the Godin enthusiasts, let's call it a "partial" victory.
The end.