As for the pluperfect use of "было", while it probably doesn't occur as frequently as "деть", it wouldn't sound strange to me, regardless of the verbs it's used with. I certainly consider it part of the modern language, unlike, say, the use of "есть" in "откуда есть пошла Русская Земля", even if that particular phrase is very familiar. In fact, pluperfect "было" is so natural to me I can't even tell whether I personally use it or not with any frequency (I was recently shocked when I realized that I hardly ever hear anyone my age use "мол", even though my father uses it all the time).
я бросился было растворить дверь, но у меня преградили дорогу
Is this sentence from somewhere, or did you come up with it yourself? The use of "у меня" here really rubs me the wrong way, I'd much rather use "мне". I'd also mention that this use of "растворить" struck me as a bit old-fashioned (I would rather have said "распахнуть", or simply "открыть"), but it seems like dictionaries don't agree with me on this one, so you're probably safe