I bought and am in the process of installing a cam and timing set in my 400 big block I am rebuilding. It is on a stand with the heads not installed yet and I have the #1 piston at TDC. The cam I bought has 4 degrees advance ground into it. Do I still install the crank timing gear on the zero degree keyway and line up the dot with the cam gear or do I need to use the 4 degree advanced or retarded keyway to compensate for the 4 degrees ground in the cam? I'm confused because with the #1 piston at TDC, the lifters are not of equal height like I thought they were supposed to be on the compression stroke. The intake lifter is slightly higher out of the bore than the exhaust lifter. The #6 cylinder lifters are equal and slightly down in their bores.
