Startup Procedire ?'s

I use a tstat, I do use water, not coolant. I dont fill it to the top, but leave about 2" open in the radiator, and have a hose or 2 gallons of water nearby to top off as it goes down initially. I leave the cap on but not tightened because it tends to bubble over and the fan grabs it from there...lol.

I leave the distributor still while the cam is breaking in, and generally it's somewhere between zero and 10° advanced.

What for leaks, and make sure you are not pre-oiling with the starter motor driving the oil pump. Use a shaft, and turn the engine over a couple times by hand while the pump is being turned by the drill.

On your heads and that Comp cams... Did you stick with Edelbbrock springs? Because they may be too light in terms of pressures for what the cam wants. However, for first starting, you do not want the heavier dual springs in place if you want your cam to live. So if you are running the correct Comp dual springs on the RPM heads, you should remove the inner spting prior to initial startup, and then reinstall them after the cam's had a chance to break in.