1.the compound the brake pads are made of may not be right for your rims. try koolstop's Salmon color may work better for you.yes the rims may be worn after 10 years of service.
2.you need to do 1 of 2 things here either you need to replace the levers to work with the v-brakes or you need to replace calipers to work with the levers you have.