Duly noted, has the distributor been taken out since the cam and lifters were broken in? If not, most likely cause is a bent intake valve or left head gasket blown between 5 and 7. The cylinder numbers is assuming a normal firing order.
I did replace the distributor after the break in. The engine starting the crackling/popping out of the carb and some suggested it may be a bad distributor, so it was replaced. We have been having some severe rain here (for California) and the engine shop is trying to arrange me to drop off the car at the end of this week. I'm letting them handle it from here. Since they offered to take the car, I have finally gotten some decent sleep!
Last night, I had a crazy dream: In my dream the engine shop told me that because I didn't have the suspension set correctly the engine wouldn't run properly! HA!
