Some lifters can still be pumped with oil perhaps, preventing you from pushing them in.
If all lifters are hard to push in, this would also mean intake valves might be held open slightly, and this would/should cause backfires in the carb at times and would also cause hard starting.

What's the voltage at the coil with the IGN 'on'?
Should be at least 8-9 volts. You can by-pass the ballast resistor for a short while so the coil gets the full 12 volts, to see if the engine runs better this way.

Did you try a different ECU? (A non-orange Mopar ECU if possible)

Disconnect the fuel hose from the carb and hold it in a bucket and have someone crank over the engine. A fairly good amount of fuel should squirt out at regular intervals during starting.
If the fuel-squirts are weak you might want to try a different fuelpump first.

Good luck!

Its not hard to start and it doesnt backfire through the carb. Ive tried different ECU and it didnt affect it any. ill check the voltage to the coil to see what it is.

Okay with the ignition on... im showing 4 volts on the + side of the coil. With the car running Im showing about 6. On the ballast resistor I have 12 volts on one side. On the other side I have 6 with the wire hooked up... unhooked im showing 12.

There you go!
Find another ballast resistor with less resistance so more voltage gets to the coil.

How do I go about finding the right one? I just replaced the ballast resistor thinking it would help my problem and it didnt

Its a single resistor.

How do I find one with less resistance? I mean what do I tell them at the parts house.

See if you can borrow a coil that doesn't use the resistor, then make a jumper to bypass the resistor. That way you can still go back easily.

You are looking for a coil that can run on all 12 volts.

Had this problem before, but we're playing with hotter engines. Anyways check the plug wires( at night to check for a light show) Also did you do anything with the valvesprings ( could be floating the valves)Oh one more thing did you change the ignition at all. Could be a hotter box screwing the plug wires up. Sucks i've been through all these problems.....Remember, friends dont let friends drive Chevy.

Where can I find a coil that can run at 12 volts? I didnt do anything to the valve springs. I just assumed they would be fine since this is a stock cam and all. And the ignition is all the same stuff that was on the car with my last engine. I bought replacement parts at advance but nothing helped any so I changed everything back one part at a time to see if anything changed then.. still nothing :/

You should have 9 volts at the coil when the car is running at 13.8v [13.8 volts is the real number not 12]. If you have 6 volts the ballast resistor has too much resistance.

If the compression test is ok it's electrical
Bad control boxes [esp orange boxes]and alternators make engines run bad too
Put the shotgun away

Well im showing plenty of volts to the ballast.. but out of it im getting usually around 5 to 6... thats with the key on. So how do I find one with less resistance? And I didnt think to check the altenator. It charges the battery fine but it could still be a problem?