Ok so I got a 91 camaro z28 the other day it does not have the original motor in it it is a 305 tbi it was running fine until I decided to clean the engine compartment ugh dumbass! anyway I really was doing anything crazy or drenching stuff I was just spraying a rag and wiping down some stuff well the car has a msd ignition and wires and the wires were covered in grime (previous owner left the car filthy) so I decided in my infinite wisdom to clean them off which consisted of taking a rag with some orange cleaner on it pinching the wire tightly with the rag and pulling the rag down the wire to remove the grime (again stupid I know) well one of the wires popped off the distributor and and put it back on no big deal i did all 8 of them like this and when I was done I started the car to move it.... stream of profanity and...
here are the symptoms:
When you start the car it runs really rough for about 15 seconds then it more or less straightens out anything up to half throttle is smooth as can be heavy throttle there is definitely a vibration. Also the exhaust coming out the tail pipes is not smooth its definitely a broken stream (consistent sputter - best way i can describe it) It seems to be an obvious misfire to me but maybe I am trying to make it fit based on that wire popping off. I even tried replacing just that one to see if maybe I broke the end... no dice now maybe I broke a different one I don't know. I am not inept when it comes to cars but I am relatively new to small blocks and never had throttle body injection so im not sure how to proceed in diagnosing where the miss is I just don't want to buy a 90 dollar set of wires and then still have a problem. HELP!

 

Okay, never mind risking serious embarrassment I will tell you I determined the issue... went down and started to yank out the wires one by one to see which cylinder was the problem I got about halfway through (burning my hands mind you lol ) and realized something was hissing in my ear so I am like Vacuum leak! so im looking around the hoses trying to pinpoint the origin of the sound which is tough in a garage under the hood sounds kind of bounce around .. so I am feeling around by the distributor and SUCK my thumb gets sucked into the little vacuum outlet in the back of the air cleaner turns out I knocked that little hose out when I pulled that wire off accidentally... put it back in and PROBLEM SOLVED. I feel like an idiot but it just goes to show when first diagnosing a problem... KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID