60's Kay 4-string banjo neck questions

Hello all !!

Newbie here ... just decided to learn to play a 4-string banjo- found a beater, and now at it ... fairly certain it's an early-60's Kay.

Neck had been lovingly stripped bare with what looks like 50# sandpaper, 'coated' several times with a stain varathane. Cheek pieces on head had separated near the end, repaired with a wood screw on both sides.

Anything metal is coated with a liberal spattering of rust, especially the tailpiece, which appears to have once been what Elderly terms "BA18 Model A Banjo Tailpiece: Not fancy; just an inexpensive, non-adjustable tailpiece that works. Nickel plated steel, holds loop or ball-end strings. Includes attaching bolt"

The ring which holds the scotch-tape-patched head is on upside down- notch for strings at neck joint is underneath ...

in short, a provenance-dripping classic butcher job: just my style :-)

my questions relate to the neck. "Action" is at least 1/2" at 19th, so angle needs to change. Straight-edge sitting on frets is pretty much parallel to head, if not slightly angled down the wrong way. I've got the 1/4" rod and the threaded adaptor nut out, neck off ... and yes, I _have_ read Frank's "1960s Kay Banjo Setup" page ...

1)
The famous screw up through the bottom of the heel: I can find lots of advice to not touch it. It has been "touched"- vice-grip fang marks galore. Slot head sits just flush/proud. The threaded 'bolt' that sticks out the neck-end seems to swivel/pivot side-to-side on said famous screw.

Am I safe to remove screw, remove bolt, clean and reassemble? I don't know who has done what to it, so would like to be sure that joint is sound. Opinions?

2)
Black plastic curved shim is fastened to pot, not neck, with two brass escutcheon pins. There is no possibility of up-down slip/movement of neck, as the hole in shim is round like bolt and a quite snug fit. My thought is to ovalize it until I can get the angle set as Frank shows in his instructions. Opinions?

thanks :-)

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