HEI in....Won't Fire

Hey guys,
I just finished installing my HEI and the damn thing won't fire. I know I have power to the coil with the key on, but it won't fire. I even turned the distributor 180* and it backfired. Turned it back and nothing. The only thing I saw happen under the hood is a couple of times a small puff of smoke. I had the fire extinguisher by my side. But, it looked like it was coming from the opposite side of the engine bay?? What's that about??? Could my timing be that far off???

I really need help with this. I appreciate every and all opinions...mostly

High5

 

my opinion
time to pull it back out and start over
#1 to TDC, align marks
rotor pointing to #1, should be about the 9-10 o'clock position viewed from drivers side ; this means the rotor needs to be about 7-8 o'clock when inserting shaft
re-check firing order of wires
take it for a spin !!!!!
(this from someone who never could get his HEI to run right!)

 

OK,
I started over and didn't just line the new distributor up with the old. I had the fiance turn it over until I got close to TDC on #1. I then put everything back in and I got it to run I now need a timing light to get in to where it has to be. Luckily, I still have the woman's Focus to drive until this is DDable.
Thanks for the advice, it always helps to know someone else has done most of this before. I now know more about ignitions then I ever wanted to

Thanks again

High5 :stout:

 

Went out and got me a timing light last night. Tried to time it, but it seems I can't get the timing mark into the range and have the Jeep still running. It stumbles bad when I try. I have it running, but not running well right now. What else could be the problem. Also, the carb sounds like it is really sucking hard when I try and turn the distributor in order to move the mark into place. Could I be 180* off. Would it still run??? I'm at a loss here

High5