Well...
I busted tail on the 66 Saturday and despite numerous little (and expected) setbacks, I FINALLY rolled the 66 out of the garage for the first time since I pulled the motor out.
Put the new valve cover on and started adding the break in oil.
Dirty and grumpy but shes out in the sunshine again.
Another hour or so later, she was ready to make some noise (I hooked up the vacuum line to the BOV right after snapping this pic)...
(nasty air filter on just for now, new one on the way)
Tho she did end up making noise...not the noise I was shooting for . Starter sounded funny to me and I couldnt think what was up. I pulled the started thinking maybe it wasnt making contact with the flywheel but after putting it back we saw that the starter was in fact turning the pulleys so thats not it. Got a couple backfires from the carb so I pulled the distributor and put it back in 180* out. Now it wont do anything, no coughing, no popping no nothing. I pulled the #1 spark plug and stuck my thumb in the hole and turned the crank...no pressure what-so-ever. Pushed the car back into the garage as it was getting late and called it a night.
Sunday afternoon I pulled the valve cover and went through the motions of re-adjusting the rocker arms to be slightly loose on the pushrod yet with no slop on the valve. I followed the posted guides on adjusting these things (first time with adjustable rockers thanks to the Aussie head) to the T. Said on a new motor, BEFORE allowing the lifters to fill with oil, push the pushrod down to make sure the lifter bottoms out and then adjust the rocker till the pushrod wont spin in your fingers, then got 1/4 turn more. Once the lifters had pumped up, the valves were not closing and I wasnt getting any compression at all. After loosening everything up and adjusting the rockers to where there is no slop, but the pushrod can spin barely and with some forced, I stuck my thumb in #1 and turned the crank by hand and on the compression stroke it blew compression past my thumb. Im sure it will be a bit noisey but Im gonna fire the motor as it is and then do the final adjustment after break in while the motor is still warm.
Finally, I pulled the dipstick to see how much fuel I had put into the pan with my failure of a weekend and have decided to go ahead and drain it. Ordered another 6 quarts of break in oil and some Comp Cams break in additive and once it comes in, Ill be trying again. Lets see if she isnt happier now with some compression.
Im praying that my failure of a Saturday didnt ruin my chances of a successful cam break in but at this point, it is what it is and I cant turn back now.
Matt