Fresh fuel will certainly make a difference. Getting your timing spot on will also go a long way. You need to use a timing light.
You also mentioned that you had fairly low compression on some of the cylinders. I found that cylinder compression below the 95-105 psi range would result in very difficult unassisted starting. You may be looking at a combination of all 3.
Wrt your wheel play, if you have someone else shake the wheel, and look behind at where the play is, it will be fairly obvious. If it is the kingpins, the whole knuckle will be moving, if it is the wheel bearings, then just the wheel and drum will move with relation to the brake backing plate. Either way, a teardown to at least the wheel bearings is always in order for piece of mind. You can do the front brakes at the same time.
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