Back to Basics?

["cruznmd" <racuti1@xxxx>]

You've all seen my flailings regarding attempts to start my car.
Here's an interesting twist:

After reading some more and making some more phone calls I went back
to the distributor. Despite the fact that I aligned the rotor
correctly, and #1 piston was at TDC, -and- the timing light strobed at
13 degrees BTDC when checked, I was slapped in the face with the
realization that perhaps I set the dizzy on the wrong stroke.

So I double checked that I had indeed set the dizzy for #1 TDC. Rotor
lined up, a screw driver showed that #1 was TDC and the pulley mark
lined up with "0" on the scale (so I didn't set to #6 piston by
mistake). I pulled the dizzy, cranked 360 degrees and dropped it back in.

NOW the engine back-fires a lot where before there was nothing,
although it didn't start. I only fiddled with it for a couple of
minutes. The rain was pouring down, it was dark and I didn't have a
buddy to crank it while I adjusted the distributor. Not to mention I'm
not sure the O2 screw is set right just yet.

Does back-fire necessarily indicate an over-advanced timing condition?
I'm trying to figure out which direction to turn the dizzy on my next
attempt.

Thanks,

Rich