Sounds like the cart getting ahead of the horse. Why would you take it for a drive and not check and adjust the valves first? Repairing anything from a old truck to putting together kids toys you have to start with #1 and then follow the steps. If you work through everything needed to make a truck run you will know what to expect when you get to running and driving it. You need to make sure you have good spark, good fuel supply, good compression. Turn your engine over by hand and watch to make sure you don't have a valve sticking, get the valves set .002 tighter than the hot spec. Then oil the cylinders and do a compression test. Make sure you have good spark. Then get the engine up on #1 and make sure the rotor is pointing at the #1 terminal on the distributor cap. Then you can begin to make an informed decision as to your next step. Don