1973 225 valve adjustment help!please!

It's not clear to me whether you did this right or not, but sounds like you have the right idea

It does not matter whether you go from "front to back" or "in the firing order" On my V8 I just bump the starter.

You need to be sure that the intake is "ON THE WAY CLOSED" but not quite closed before you set the exhaust

When setting the intake, you want the exhaust "just starting to open" a bit.

On my V8, I go from front to back on one side of the engine, then walk around and do the other head. I do "think about" the firing order, IE bump 'till no2, frontmost on pass side, is set, then the firing order is (2)---1-8 so 8 is next, 8-4.... so 4 is next, 4-3-6... so do six.

On our six, probably easiest to just go from front to back. Make sure you use a feeler a couple of thou bigger as a "no go" gauge.