8 hours ago, Chickenman said:

When you have things apart. Inspect the oil pump. Make sure that nothing has damaged the oil pump rotors and possibly jammed the teeth for an instant. That could make the spindle gear spin or damage the worm gear /key on the crank. Rare...but worth checking. 

i have a feeling that this is possible. i tried installing the oil pump (with the marks lined up) 4 times tonight. every time it came out like shown in the picture above. i have another shaft that i will try tomorrow. on another note, i discovered that my brand new flame-thrower coil is putting out almost zero spark.

There's a trick Tom Monroe uses in his book I can scan tomorrow morning for you to read. It helped me get mine right on the first or second try. Something about putting one bolt in and turning the pump body to cover the other bolt holes then push it the rest of the way on. I'll get it for you to read over and see what you think, asap Saturday a.m

Here's the best pictures and the PDF files.

   

IMG.pdf    IMG_0001.pdf

thank you Site.

 

11:30, 11:25,  11:27 is more accurate

Wit's End is where I live

 

Edited April 8, 20177 yr by 240260280

The things suggested will affect all six cylinders equally.  You might see if the problem is from a single cylinder by disabling one cylinder at a time.  If you have electronic ignition make sure that you ground the plug wire before starting the engine.  Sometimes they don't like it if the spark has nowhere to go.  Takes more time but it's less risk.  If the popping goes away with a certain disabled cylinder then you can start thinking about other things.

ok, so this morning, i pulled the distributor drive shaft again and checked it against 2 others. no difference. i thought maybe the gear had slipped. put it all back together, lining up the dots and still come up with the drive tang in the wrong position, but, the rotor is pointed dead nuts #1. checked spark at the coil by turning the distributor, perfect. checked plug wire position. checked #1 at tdc. checked cam lobes on #1, pointing up, ready for exhaust stroke. timing pointer on tdc. everything checks out fine at tdc, but i cant get it to run without advancing the timing to maybe 60-70* btdc.

 

here is a short clip. the white mark on the crank pulley is 40* btdc

DSCN0216.AVI

 

Try putting the timing light lead on different cylinders and see if the flashes make more sense.  Might give a clue.  Seems like you're locked in mentally that things are right and you might be missing something.  Cognitive dissonance.

i know im missing something, i just cant figure out what. it just doesnt make sense. the engine was running perfectly and now it isnt. im going to feel like an idiot when i do get it

 

My "disable the cylinders" comment wasn't just a flyer.  Find out where the popping is coming from.  You might have a bad cylinder.  

4 hours ago, sweatybetty said:

thank you Site.

 

You're most welcome.

I wish I could do more, I know you are frustrated.