wont start

1...That is not a good way to set the timing. What year do we have here, and what do you have for ignition, IE, points, Mopar breakerless, Pertronix, "other?"

2...What led up to this? Have you been driving it, and it "just quit? You have described what seems to be a LOT of problems to happen at once. What was (for example) the "no spark?" Generally ONE notable problem will be the key

On the other hand "bad gas" seems to suggest it has NOT been run lately.

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So read your shop manual, the engine section, and check cam timing. Maybe the cam drive slipped. (timing chain) You can download free shop manuals at MyMopar

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=31

There's a procedure in there to check the timing chain

(By the way some of those manuals came from the guys here on FABO)

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Timing. You need a better way. Frankly if you are going to "operate" on these girls you need a timing light. If you can't afford new, O'Reillys may loan one, I do know they load out some tools

Check garage sales and CraigsList

But you can set timing "closer" than you did. .........Use your finger, and determine compression. Then rotate the crank carefully so the timing marks come "on up" but do NOT set them to TDC. Rather, set them to "where you want" the timing to be, say, 8 BTC or whatever.

At this point, index the cap tower no1 wire to the rotor, it should be "just coming to" the correct tower contact. Examine the points or pickup / reluctor. The points should be just electrically opening (use a 12 V light, key on) or the reluctor should be "right in" the center of the pickup. Usually, you can wiggle the rotor with the key on, and that little "wiggle" will generate a spark if timing is correct.

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Also CHECK the spark. "How good" is it? You MUST use the key to crank the engine, because of the resistor bypass circuit. Either "rig" a spark gap or buy a spark tester....they are not expensive. Rig it from the coil tower to ground, and watch it while cranking the engine. You should have a good blue "snappy" spark at least 3/8" long.

More on timing chain / cam timing...........Why did you feel the need to set or change the timing? Unless the cam drive slipped, the timing should NOT have changed. In other words if that happened, you may have shot yourself in the foot for troubleshooting. To put this another way, if you had accurately checked the timing, and it was not correct, you would then suspect that the timing chain has slipped