Frustrated engine wants to die at idle

oh no, this is a must must must. The major thing to get right, you must be able to tell what your initial timing is. AND, as cracked has preached to MANY on this site. Big ccams, big cubes and big carbs need more initial timing. Like, to start out, try 16 degrees just to get it to fire and you will most likely be twisting the dizzy to dial it up some more. Especially on a bigblock with a gargantuan sized bore. Gonna need lot of idle fuel also. Many threads on this thing here to help you with the initial timing deal so do some searches.