Well, my buddy now has oil to rocker arms. He likely inadvertently cleared the oil passage in the block coming from the rear camshaft by removing the oil line under the side cover and turned the engine over by the starter. There is an orifice in that passage which would be a good place for a booger to hang up.
He developed a problem with backfire through the carburetor, so I walked him through setting the octane selector at zero and set the timing with the needle on the ball.
He says he's ready to race me now.
