well i got back into it today. I pulled off the raditor, smog and a/c delete and water pump. pulled of the timing cover, and then figured out i lined it up right the first time. I must of ben 180 out when i set the distributer. And where the problem hopefully was a valve ajustment because the number one cylinder valve was way to tight, and thats why i couldnt get compression out of the cylinder when i put my thumb in it. So im pretty sure i have it set up right this time, all i have to do is put it back together and try again. 2 steps foward 5 steps back, thats how my first build is going. But im gonna stick it out because when this baby's done shes gonna be nice...

 

I was kind of hoping you would have done the easy 180 rotation first insted of pulling the cover and going through all that work first. As for setting the valves the easy way is to have all the rockers loose and the timing mark on TDC. Then rotate each push rod with your fingers untill you feel slight resistance while tighting the rocker nut, and then move to the next one. When you have all 16 push rods set this way turn the motor one half turn and do the same adjustment again. You now have HALF of the rockers set. You will need to do the half rotate and adjust two more times to complete the valve setting. The crank turns two time to make the cam turn once. That is why there are FOUR steps when setting the valves this way. Give each rocker nut 1/4 turn after you have the 16 set and you should be done. Every motor that goes out the door I set this way. If you are using new lifters it might take a while for the lifter to pump up completey, soaking in oil will not alway fill the lifter complety. Let us know how its going.

 

Things are looking up. I put it all back together, and it pretty much started right up and stays running. I timed it with the timing light and got that all set. I just need to add some oil which i checked and was low, and top off my transmission fluid because i took it out when changing the engine. I think the next challange is figueing out the vaccums because i eleminated the egr, and probably addjustting the valves now that i can get it to run. And then on to the new top paint and interior.