I finally got to do what I have wanted to for a long time now. I heard the big block fire up. The engine hadn't been started in a couple years. We mocked it up on the engine stand, with some old headers. The headers were not the best. They left no room for spark plug wires, so we used an old set so we wouldn't melt the new ones. We are hoping the wires are to blame for the miss fire. Otherwise the engine seemed to run well with little timing adjustments.
We tore the engine back down and checked compression, which was alright, and loosened the rockers to close the valves. We pressurized the cylinders and had a little bit of valve leak. I'm hoping it is just carbon or oil gunk that can be easily loosened up and blown out. But if I have to I guess the heads will be coming off.
After timing it still had a miss fire but got it to idle
