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No smoke! This is a good thing. You are, of course, familiar with how electronics work, I assume. All electronic components, (especially modern integrated circuits, but it still applies to capacitors, resistors and power transformers) function by way of electrical current interacting with magic smoke. That's right, magic smoke. It's sealed into the components at the factory, and it is the basis of all electronic technology. If you let the magic smoke out of the components, however, they will stop functioning. So be careful.
That "hot dust" smell is pretty normal, and most tube electronics will carry with them a pleasent "hot" smell when operational. I would, however, reccomend cleaning everything as best you can. Too much dust and crud in there can be a problem, and it's a lot easier (or at least more pleasant) working on a clean chassis. Brush the dust off the tubes the best you can, and I'd suggest pulling out all the tubes and brushing off the chassis too. Personally, I use an air compressor to clean the chassis before I start working on it. Just be careful when cleaning tubes not to clean the numbers off too...
A loose base on an octal tube is pretty common. The glue used to hold the base onto the tube has deteriorated with time and heat. It's normally not that much of a problem, provided that the little wires inside the tube base aren't broken. Always pull octal tubes out by their bases, to avoid putting stress on that connection.
Speaking of loose tube bases - anyone ever tried regluing these? You'd need some sort of a glue that would bond with both the base and the glass, and something that would withstand the heat of the tube, and preferably not give off noxious fumes when it gets hot.
Good luck in your restoration, and keep us posted with the progress!
-Ian
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