FIRST:  Make sure all fuel connections are tight.  Motor mounts are tight, trans is in NEUTRAL (PARK IF ITS AN AUTO).  If auto, is there ATF in the box?  Make sure there is a throttle return spring in place.  Have you static timed the IGN?  Not hard to do to get it at least close.

PUSH THE CAR OUT OF THE GARAGE SOME DISTANCE AND HAVE AT LEAST ONE FIRE EXTINGUISHER HANDY WITH AN OTHER PERSON MANNING IT!!!!!!!

Block and or chock the car.

Never wired an MSD box/dizzy but here's what I'd do.

Go to Radio Shack or Harbor or someplace and get a bundle of heavy duty aligator clip type jumpers.
Connect the MSD  box - coil - dizzy together per MSD instructions. 
Connect a battery cable from the  pos post of the batt to the solenoid. 
Connect a cable from the starter side of the solenoid to the starter.
Connect a battery ground cable to the engine block but NOT to the battery yet.

Does it have an electric FP?
If so you will need to run jumpers or a lenght of 14ga wire and jumpers to connect the FP to the Batt side of the solenoid.
If the FP has a ground wire, jumper it to ground near the pump.
Now connect (LIGHTLY BY HAND) the ground cable to the Neg side of the batt.  That will run the pump.  Let it run long enough to fill the carb and CHECK FOR FUEL LEAKS then disconnect its jumper from the batt side of the solenoid and clip it to ground near by.

Disconnect the batt neg cable.

Connect a jumper from the batt pos to the MSD power input wire...if it has one, as I said, I never had one.
Connect a jumper from the batt pos to the coil +, unless this is all taken care of with the hot wire to the MSD box.

Connect a jumper from the S lug of the solenoid and leave the other end loose but not grounded or touching the Batt.

Make sure all jumpers or wires are clear of the fan, pulleys, etc. and that nothing from batt pos is grounded or laying on exh manifolds/headers.

Connect the Neg batt cable with hand pressure...do not tighten the bolt.  You now have Ignition ON.

Take the lose end of the jumper going to Solenoid S and touch, NOT CONNECT, it to batt pos.  This will cause the starter to engage and crank the engine.  And if all is well, it should start and run.
If it runs, if will start draining the carb so you'll want to connect the loose end of the FP wire back to batt pos if you want to keep it running.

To kill it, just disconnect the coil + or MSD wire from the batt pos.

DISCONNECT THE BATT NEG AND POS, IN THAT ORDER, WHEN DONE.

BB

Last edited by Bullet Bob (5/24/2015 4:26 PM)

Also Ernest...is this a flat tappet cam engine?  If so you really want to be ready to start it, fine tune the timing, and let it run at 2K rpm or so for about twenty minutes.  This is absolutely necessary, in my experience, to break in the cam/lifters.  Failure to do so has wiped out many cams.

So, you will want coolant and enough fuel in it for the run.  Set up your jumpers so they'll be secure for the break in run and not vibrate loose or get into the belts or fan or get melted.

Keep the extinguisher handy and don't walk away from it while its running or even right after you shut it down.  BE SAFE.

A box fan aimed at the rad may be a good idea too.

BB
 

It's an msd distributor so I guess I don't need the resistor right?  When I bought the car it had all the wiring in a box and I'm dreading tackling that project. I'm debating buying new wires as well. Steve, I just want to see/hear it run to motivate me. I've been super busy with other stuff and putting this off.