In a previous Thread i posted about spark plug wire placement. Well now all of my spark plug wires are connected and all cylinders are firing. But i belive it is a timing issue now. The car shakes a lot when started and i have to keep my foot on the gas to keep it started. Can timing be so bad that the engine doesnt stay started? Or could it be a vacuume problem? Or even both?

 

First recheck the wires, make sure they're on right and in the right order. 18436572 CW around the dist. cap. Then check for vaccuum leaks. It's easy to leave or knock a hose off.

 

Ok thanx. I was also told that i can advance timing by just loosening the distributer and rotating it counterclockwise to advance the timing by ear (listening for pinging). What exactly do i loosen and rotate? lol i tried just the cap but it only goes on 1 way.

 

If, all you did was change wires, you shouldn't need to adjust the timing.
FYI, the distributor is held down with one bolt that goes though the distributor hold down bracket. Once loosened you should be able to easily turn the entire distributor, cap and base, both CW and CCW to set the timing.

 

Your timing cant change from spark plug wires being changed. Only thing that could have happend is you mixed a couple of um up

 

I knew timing couldnt be changed from spark plug wire, sorry for the mixup, ive had the timing issue for a while, but the reason the car was dieing wasnt because of timing. I screwed up on the vacuume line hookup got a diagram and hooked them all up correctly. Thanx for all the input also guys. Car runs great now. Starts a heck of alot better too.

 

Glad you got it fixed. Don't set your timing by ear, get a timing light. When the timing is set by ear it usually ends up to advanced. Which can cause the engine to ping.
What kind of timing issue are you having?

 

I adjusted it to ear. And yeah it did ping. All i did was turned it a few degress until i heard it ping under load. Hopped in the car and took it around the block under hard exceleration. It took me a couple of stops to get the car not to ping but it still worked. Car doesnt ping at all. But at stops when the car is at idle the car engine shakes ALOT!!! That was what i assumed to be a timing problem, but i changed the timing and its still doing it. There is a slight wobble of the clutchfan and water pump pulley, (waterpump shaft tweeked a little i think) But i dont think its the acomplice of the engine shaking when the car is at idle.