Make sure the engine is primed properly.  After 7 months, you might do it again with a drill and priming tool.  I used to do it by spinning the engine w/o plugs until I got oil pressure, but I read a smart guy who didn't like spinning the engine before start up as it tended to wipe off the cam break in stuff we're so careful about putting on.  Made sense and now I use priming tools for all engines, but never lost one doing it the other way.?

It's nice to have a known good carb and have the timing static set pretty close so the engine can start and not labor or be pig rich in the beginning.  Also make sure you do what you can to remove the air bubble that happens when filling the block/radiator for starting.  Most 292's have a nifty heater plug behind the T stat you can take the hose off and bleed the air out until you get water.

Biggest rule for cam break in is keep the engine a 1500 to 2000 rpm on start up and monitor temp and oil pressure.  Most say 20 minutes or so.  I do two 15 minute runs with a cool down in the middle.  Good luck.  I still get butterflies when a start a new on on the stand.

Have the exhaust system hooked up with mufflers. Its impossible to hear valve noise over open exhaust. Listen carefully to the valve noise. If it gets louder, shut it off. Check lash. If lash has changed more than .003 to .004" find out why. It will change some so don't panic if it isn't perfect. Make a note of which ones you had to adjust, run the engine for a few minutes and recheck them.

Its best to have checked actual valve lift at the retainer with valve lash before you start the engine so you can tell if it has changed.

Even if everything looks and sounds good I would check valve lash after your first run time. 

Don't assume everything is okay. If there is a problem, the sooner you notice it, the fewer parts you'll need to replace.

Prelubing the engine via the oil pump does nothing for getting lubrication to the camshaft lobes and lifters.  The lobes and lifter faces are relying solely on what is put on them during the engine assembly itself.  If the engine has been assembled for awhile before attempting to start it, then the type of lube used on the camshaft is a player.  Some of the thick moly lubes are good for extended periods of time (12 months or more) while lower viscosity oils or assembly lubes will run off of the lobes while the engine is sitting and may be good for only 4-6 weeks at best.

Don’t want to alarm you but the camshaft and lifter breakin is the critical part of the startup.  Its not unusual for me to have to partially disassemble engines for customers that have been sitting for more than a year before dynoing them and simply relube the lifter faces before cranking these engines up.  The Y is obviously a bit more complicated with its mushroom tappets as pulling the intake and relubing the lifters isn’t done in this case as with most other engines.  If you have stock valve spring pressures, then risks of abnormal wear on the cam lobes / lifter faces during breakin are considerably lower.

Ditto on what John mentions about watching for abnormalities during the initial startup.  If something doesn’t look or sound right, simply shut off the engine and give it a thorough checkout before continuing.  It’s best to err on the side of caution than damage some parts needlessly.

Low ratio rockers are beneficial in reducing ‘over the nose’ pressures during breakin.  Removing the inner springs on double or triple valve spring assemblies is also performed on some instances.  For most Y street engines and especially with stock valve spring pressures this can be considered overkill but it does give an additional safety margin if overly concerned.  Be forewarned that doing the low ratio rockers or removing inner valve springs is no guarantee against lobe/tappet failures as faulty materials or heat treat may only show up when full pressures are put against the parts.

Varying the lash more than just a little bit beyond what’s recommended can do more harm than good in many instances so unless you know exactly what the lobe profile looks like on the opening ramp, it’s best to stick with the manufacturers recommendation at least during breakin.

Different motor/config I know, but I have a 223 for my `55 F100 been sitting rebuilt (moly ass'y lube) for almost two years now, and I'm haunted a little about first fire without a partial re-rebuild to lube.

Brian

By the time you see oil pressure on the gauge (or the idiot light goes out) the crank assembly will have splashed as much oil on the cam/lifters as they will ever see.