i'm looking for some advise on a engine i just bought off ebay it's a 1973 chevy 454 steel crank, eagle rods, srp 10.1 pistons,merlin ll heads 269cc intake runners 119cc chambers 2.300/1.880 valves 120# seat press. cam is a crane 282/282 adv duration 533''/533'' gross lift, rocker arms are crane energizer 1.7 roller rockers,intake is a edelbrock victor jr,and distributor is a pertronix flamethrower hei, it's never been started yet it's still full of assembly lube. i'm looking for some advise on the type of spark plug to buy what to set the gap at, what to set the total timing at and size of carburator(i was thinking a holley street avenger 870 ?) it's going in a 69 chevelle with a th400 3500 stall and a 12 bolt with 3.90 gear ratio. any help would be greatly appreciated . thanks

I run AC R44TS in the 454's I have had...gap them at .045 or so with an HEI. Timing should be set at 16 or 18 initial, and another 20* or so mechanical advance, for a total of 36 or 38. (Not counting vacuum advance) What will the car be used for primarily? The carb you mention will be fine, a tad big if it's not an all out race engine, but being a vacuum secondary, you'll only use what you need. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. Do a search on Holley 870 street avenger and you'll get lots of good info. John