Any good tips for firing up motor on engine stand?

It's a "used" rebuilt engine. In other words, it was already in the car and the PO took it out when the transmission went out. He said the only problem with the motor was that the points keep burning up because he drove it around with the transmission slipping. Since that explanation did not make any sense to me with my motor experience, I want to see if anything else is wrong with that rebuilt motor (it has a tag on it as having been rebuilt by a shop in Fresno, CA) Anyway, it has already been in the car according to what I was told, obviously it is dirty on the outside. So to answer the cam question, it must be broken in by now!