When I bought the car it had a terrible misfire, I quickly found out why, the distributor bolt was loose and the distributor was positioned all the way back toward the firewall...i think that's considered "retarded"...so I turned it in the opposite direction all the way (front) and then backed it off a hair and now it runs great...pull strong from idle to redline.
Only problem is that for some reason now it sometimes has difficulty starting, it turns over for like 20-30 seconds before it starts and sometimes doesnt start at all. Once it's running it's fine, pulls strong, idles well, no stalling, etc but if I shut it off again it's tough to start again. Not sure if it's the timing still being off or maybe the main relay needs to be replaced...before spending $100 on a relay i want to fix the timing. My friend has a timing gun and tried to set it but couldnt fit the marking to do so.

Basically what I'm asking is if someone could give me a rough idea where the distributor should be positioned? In the middle? rear? front? etc.... I dont need the timing to be DEAD ON but I think i'm probably way off right now...


Sorry for the X-post in the EF forums I wanted to post here too because I never seem to get answers in the EF forums.

 

Do a leakdown test while the car is cold to check if your exhaust valves are warped. After that, proceed to check ignition and fuel systems.