Congratulations! You stuck with it, solved a lot of different things, and now treadling is just a matter of practice, like a bike. Have fun!
I know exactly how you feel. I (finally!) got a treadle base this spring, and worked at getting my old machine to sew AND learning to not let the hand wheel roll backwards, at the same time! It seemed I had one problem after another, but I was too stubborn to give up. Then suddenly one morning, everything finally worked. I was over the moon. Poor DH couldn't quite understand me. Fortunately, sm people do. :-)