An old dirt track racer I knew used to rebuild stockish engines for local folks. He would set the oil pan and trans on some old tires and fire them up to break them in right there in the floor.

Same way the junk yards did back in the day.
Would have manifolds and the short pieces of heads pipes cut off with a fire wrench.
Even if smoked and rattled some on start up thet would say something like, purrs like a kitten. If ya have a problem just come back in 30 day's.
One place was known to sell almost anything that fired up.and ran that did not knock.

Yep, it doesn't take anything elaborate as long as some common sense is in play.

The trans does pump in park , not as much as it does in neutral , and that is assuming it doesn't have a some type of shift kit or someone put in an updated manual valve.

Along with sticking a plug, or yoke, in the end of the trans .

just like i did back in my yard ownership days [1972-1984/5] if the engine/transmission unit wasn't in the car.
we sold stuff cheap, not to keep. the old "5 days, 500 feet" guarantee............it was just about 600 feet from the yard to the main road.
seriously though, if a problem developed in a reasonable amount of time, even if it was an unknown item, we would work through any difficulties that would arise as we figured a good word was worth a thousand bucks !
remember, this was before the interwebs were even considered. we were also one of the, if maybe the only, "pick your own part" yards in existence at the time.

I couldn't resist posting this and would pay 50.00 to hear their dialogue LOL DOES IT RUN?

Today I found an engine harness in my stash of parts from a 70 Duster V-8 I can use to wire up the engine. Someone had already spliced in the wiring for an electronic ignition so that's good. It has the wiring for the alternator, distributor, control box, coil, ballast resistor and voltage regulator as well as the oil and water sending units. It has the bulkhead connector too but does the bulkhead connector have any bearing on using the rest of the wiring to fire the engine up? I presume I will have to wire up a starter relay in with the battery cables, correct? Any other things I need to do wiring-wise I would appreciate input on. Oh, and how will I actually crank it over, jump the connections on the starter relay?

You'll have to provide power to the ign start and run at the bulkhead terminals. For the relay I'd buy a remote start switch, they're cheap and handy. You can jumper the terminals as well.

Can you please explain how to go about doing this? I'm not sure what you mean. I don't have a dash harness to connect the bulkhead connector (that is on the engine harness) to other than the one that is in the car. I did order a remote start switch today.

Personally, I think it would be easier without the harness. Unless you are going to hook up the alternator which does get a bit more complicated with a bit more risk IMHO. I just don't want the possibility of 60+ amps looking for a place to go. I already have plenty to do monitoring the engine itself. If you are concerned about the condition of the alternator, nowadays most auto supplies can test it for you free.

All you need are the ignition components and a few jumper wires to run it.

I just clamp the main starter cable to the positive battery post (Vice Grips will do) and then just touch the smaller starter wire to the same post to crank it. And as I said, I just use a jumper cable to ground it. Easy, peasy.

Is there a schematic that would show what gets jumped to what/where? I'm not really that good with the electrical aspect of the engine components.

It really is simple. I think you said that you are using factory electronic ignition. If so, all you need is the ECU, ballast resistor, coil and distributor.

www.allpar.com/threads/how-to-wire-...icles-that-originally-had-points.229005/

Don't worry about wiring the " Ignition 2, start " part. All it does is bypass the ballast during cranking to ensure full voltage during cranking. As long as the battery is hot, you won't need it. But you could also just wire it to the battery while cranking and then disconnect it when the engine starts. Just don't leave it hooked up while running too long, it can heat up the coil after a few minutes of giving it full battery voltage.

If you have the single pole style ballast, just wire it and don't worry about it. And you don't have to wire the #1 terminal on the ECU. That's right isn't it? It's been a while since I wired one. Somebody double check me on that.

And don't forget to ground the ECU. It needs a solid ground.

The electronic ignition I will be using is a Mopar Performance kit. It has a 2 post ballast, not a 4 post like shown in the diagram.The starter switch arrived that I mentioned I had ordered. I'm hoping to get everything ready by next weekend to give it a try. I will post here again once I do. Hopefully, all will go well. Thanks much for the help.

Here's how I've been doing it for years; go to youtube and type in Detrick 440 engine.

Before i prep my Dakota chassis to install my 56 Dodge cab I could just install the 5.2 Magnum and trans in the chassis and get it all set up and running before locating the cab onto the Dak chassis. It'll be good to know everything is working before its under the 56 cab/fenders/hood. At least then I know what to expect as I connect more functions in the 56 cab.

I have a couple more questions about starting my engine. I'm hoping to try and fire it up Sunday. As far as cooling is concerned, is it better to have or not have a thermostat installed during break-in or doesn't it matter? Also, should I fill the radiator with coolant or run pure water or again, does it matter one way or the other? I was thinking of running straight water in case something goes wrong so I don't lose the new coolant that I bought. I'm going to do as suggested and not install the clutch fan and just use one of our box fans to blow through the radiator.

Pure distilled water; antifreeze stains most engine paint if there's a leak.
I'd run a thermostat, and place a room fan in front of the radiator, and watch for normal & stable coolant temps.
Fill the fuel bowls, and have timing close; if it's a flat-tappet cam, needs to fire ASAP rather than wipe the lube off the cam.