I've never done the weaker spring routine, but I have seen guys on here recommend it before, so I guess it does have some merit, especially if you are running some stiff ones.

To answer your question about the cam and lifters, any moving part has to wear in to the same relative shape as the part rubbing against it. Piston rings do it, bearings do it, and cams and lifters do it. What you want to do is minimize scoring during this wear in period.

I always prelube engines before fire up. You can buy an inexpensive preluber that you hook up to a strong 1/2 inch electric drill and spin the oil pump so that oil is distributed throughout the entire engine BEFORE you try to start it. You can also modify an old distributor to do this, by removing the gear from the bottom, and hooking your drill to the shaft where the rotor normally goes.

The idea is to turn the oil pump in the same direction the distributor normally spins until you feel the drill slow down from the load on the pump, then keep it going for a couple minutes more to pump oil to every bearing, lifter, etc in the engine. Then, when you reinstall the regular distributor, have everything set perfectly so the engine fires as soon as possible, then bring the rpms up to about 2000-2500 and keep it there for 15 to 20 minutes, to let everything break in to all the other parts.

Then change your oil and filter immediately, and you are ready for the first test drive.

Others on here will have other suggestions as to this procedure, but this one has always worked for me. But, like everything else, there is more than one way to do something.

Don