[68 P.O.S.]

I agree with everything that's been said already. Most importantly a compression test and seeing what's going on under those valve covers. Timing after that. What gap did you set your plugs at? HEI is 0.045. The plug wires probably need to be replaced as well. Your timing sounds good, I'd go up to 14 initial once you reset the distributor, but that all depends on the guts of your HEI (you want 36 total). Also, verify TDC with a piston stop and makes sure it lines up with your balancer and timing tab. On your carb, Edelbrocks don't like high fuel pressure and engine heat, or they flood and hard start. You need a pressure regulator set to 5.5 psi and to adjust the float levels to spec to keep it from flooding. You'll also need the Edelbrock 9266 heat insulating gasket under the carb to keep the fuel from percolating and causing hard starts. I hope this helps some.