Finally got a Dart, been sitting a while...

Make sure all the lifters rotate when you turn it over by hand. Some may be sticky after sitting. If they spin hand cranking they will definitely spin when you break it in. You could pull it and take pan/front cover Off plastigauge the bearing clearance. Find out what the cam is and degree it. For the cost of a gasket set you would know and have a good father/son learning time.