I just got a 88 rs with swapped in 350. X cellorator intake. Rest is stock. I put on a holley 600. New cap,rotor wires and plugs. The car ran when I put on holley. Timing was off. I thought it was 180 off so not knowing much about timing I just pulled distributer and pit rotor 180 the other way. It spits pops and backfires through carb. It would barely idle and die quick with throttle wide open. So I read up a bit on timing. I got a timing light. Put the #1 cylinder at tdc on compression stroke ( I think) and set rotor at #1. Still not starting. Triple checked wires and firing order. What do I do. I reallywant to drive my car

 

flip the rotor 180 and see if it'll start. if it does, put a timing light on it and see if the timing mark remains steady. Could've been a loose bolt originally. If the mark isn't steady you probably have an issue with a worn timing chain.