Did you set the timing to the flywheel mark? Might as well verify firing order while you're at it. 153624. With the the flywheel mark on pointer, the #1 cylinder should have both pushrods loose and rotor pointed at #1 wire. If all those things are not true rotate the mark around one moe time and check again.
The pool in the manifold is probably from cranking and cranking and no start.
Mine exhibited similar symptoms until I manually advanced the distributor a smidge.
