273 questions...a few of them

Just catching back on this thread. You guys nailed almost everything. I was also thrown by the hydraulic-looking solid lifter. I noticed that in your photo of the engine ~pg 4 that you appear to have standard pistons, not the factory higher compression "HiPo" pistons. The later have a bulging ridge, and aren't flat on top (I have a HiPo engine). There was no special HiPo block, as I understand. I don't recall if standard pistons have valve relief cuts, but I have an aftermarket set (Norco) that is standard compression w/ valve reliefs. Not to say there aren't aftermarket HiPo pistons with a flat top, but I recall Badger ones having the bulging ridge. Not sure about Egge.

In my 273, I switched to a hydraulic cam (0.422/0.444), setup 4 deg advancem, w/ Rhoads lifters. My goal was smooth running and good mileage, not high rpm racing.

If I read correctly, it sounds like the main binding problem you had came from not using a matching set of slots on the cam and sprocket, since unclear which slot had the "o" mark. I spent some time staring at my 3 slot timing set since my marks weren't obvious either. A 9-slot set is too much risk of screwing up, since I have proven really good at installing things incorrectly.