Actually, I know exactly what condition the intake gasket is in.
Less than perfect since I took the intakes off both engines ('97 and 2000) to confirm whether they could be swapped (they cannot).
Being broke (as usual) I simply put some RTV on the gasket surface and bolted it right back up.
Might leak, don't care. Main goal at the moment is get this together and running enough to confirm that this will work and to get it to move under its own power again so I can get it out of my neighbor's garage.
I know it's a pain to do with the engine in the car. I'm fairly certain I'll be back in there redoing it, probably when I go to change the motor mounts and dogbones that need replaced but are getting reused for now.

You're always giving good advice here and I really do appreciate it.
Best practices aren't always in the cards though and I'm taking some shortcuts I'm sure to regret. I just hope documenting it here will help me remember so I can make time later to take care of it.

 

I can confirm that the arm can be removed from the shaft but it was a waste of time. I wasn't thinking 4th dimensionally, it needed to rotate 90 degrees, not 180.
Oh well. Thank goodness I found that SOHC throttle body.