Gonna dredge this thread back up since I've mostly tackled this. Having trouble setting timing.
Timing wire under heater box is disconnected.
So far, disassembled, cleaned, reassembled. New parts listed below.
Intake, egr, tbi base, rocker cover gaskets.
New Carquest distributor (magnet flaking off in original)
New Carquest plug wires
Found TDC #1, stabbed dizzy with it as close to #1 on the cap as possible. Marked the removed unit prior to removal for #1 with damper marks on zero and compared to rotor.
Started it up, ran horrible, checked timing marks with plug pulled compared to rotor position. Mistakenly thought I was 180 off and re-stabbed dizzy. Didn’t even try to fire off. Checked timing marks vs TDC compression stroke again, then reset dizzy to original position (after moving crank 2 revolutions and confirming that I was on compression stroke for #1). Started it up, idled rough, spun dizzy counterclockwise advancing timing and it smoothed out some. Ran out of advance on the dizzy before it was smooth and normal when I ran out of harness to advance it any more.
Currently, I threw in the towel for today when I lost light. Am I missing something here? One tooth forward on the main shaft puts the rotor pointed to #8 on the cap.