f150harleytruck7

i have a jdm zc sohc swap in my 95 civic ex, my car will idle low at a stop sometimes and others it will idle fine, lighs will dim a little when pushing in clutch to stop at a light, and there is a bet noise at an idle no matter if it really low or not, and it seems like vtec is only working at times, sometimes it will get loud at vtec and other times u wont notice it at all, i swapped solenoids with my friends that is extremely loud all the time, i also unplugged the vtec solenoid and it really didnt make a difference, it just popped a check engine light, otherwise i have no engine light, what should timing be at on these cars, zero or 20 over or what? any suggestions on these problems?