I am trying to put our non vtec back in time after replacing timing belt.The car starts but we didnt mark the dist. before it was removed.What is the ignition timing supposed to be?

 

It should be on the underhood label.

 

i have read that the timing is adjustable and also that it is not....I am confused.The car will run....just very rough.If I hold my foot gently on the exhaust it will try to rev up alittle,but,then it starts to surge.

 

the timing is not adjustable through the distributor. the car is obd-2, therefore the 'distributor' is more or elss not really like a real distributor, but just early stages of electronic ignition.

are you sure the timing of the engine is correct. sounds like it is a tooth or two off.

 

Did you mess with your distributor? If not just leave it alone. I never touched mine when I changed my timing belt.
I would double check your work, rotate the crank pulley so the marks on the pulley line up with the mark on the lower cover, then check if the cam gear is at tdc (arrow pointing up, two marks on each side).
Did you put your balance shaft at tdc and lock it in place?

 

We had to remove the distributor due to rebuilding the head.Is the arrow on the cam pulley arrow supposed to be straight up with the head or with the ground.Hope that makes sense.

 

Straight up with the head I think, but to make sure its in the right place there are also two notch marks on each side of the cam gear that should be aligned with the top of the lower cover.