Are the vlave cover gaskets supposed to be put on dry? Or with silicone?

I don't like my oil exposed to silicone.
So I didn't have time to retime the pump tonight but I stopped at the autozone and picked up another valve cover gasket. When I got back in the car and started it up I blipped the throttle to get rid of the charging light and it started to run away!! I turned off the key and it shut down, but it still scared the *** out of me. So without it running I stomped on the accelerator pedal twice and started it without issue. Time for a rebuild on the pump you think? Or does it just need to be advanced/retarded?
I range between 380 and 500
As pointed out over on the 'tex, that is quite the range. 120psi differences between cylinders is out of spec. I think its supposed be only 60psi or so.
No I meant the pump was actually 180 out. I cracked the line on number one and cranked it by hand and it spit mfuel out when it when everything was at TDC compression, but would only run if the pump was 180 out from that position.
That defies the laws of physics.
As pointed out over on the 'tex, that is quite the range. 120psi differences between cylinders is out of spec. I think its supposed be only 60psi or so.
From what the bently says it's can't be more than 60 psi from cylinder to cylinder, and I want to say the max between cylinders was like 40.
Yes, and from cyl x with 380 to cyl y with 500, that is a 120 psi difference. Its across all cylinders, not just adjacent ones.
Time it to 1.00mm and see what happens. Some people have had to time old pumps all the way up to 1.15+. Usually 1.00mm will do it though.
I checked the timing on the pump and there must be some slack in it somewhere because it was back down to .85, so I set the timing at 1.05 and boy what a difference! It starts up with the slightest puff of white smoke and doesn't misfire at all. I bliped the throttle a couple times and it seemed more than happy to comply. I put had to put a new valve cover gasket on it so following what turbogreasel said
A dab of goo at the cam seal corners.
I'm waiting a little while for the RTV to set before I take her for a spin around the block. Thank you guys so much for your help!! I'll let you know how the test drive goes. Hopefully it pulls as strong as it did yesterday. FWIW I figured out what caused the runaway at autozone the other night - one of the injector hoses on number one was a little too long and caught on the throttle.
after I timed the car to 1.05 it runs AWESOME. The new engine is doing everything it shuold! Thank you everyone for all of your help!