Firing issue

So just so I'm clear - the dyno tuner said a factory distributor was "fine and needed no changes" but they took out 12° of total timing? They then proceeded to tell you the reason it was hard to start hot was coolant in the cylinders as a result of the head gaskets?

Did you pay for this work?

crackedback said

I hope you adjusted the mechanical advance inside the distributor?

If you had 50* total on it without vacuum, then you were on your way to hurting the engine.

Having to mat the pedal when starting is also indicative of not enough initial timing.

Put a timing light on it at idle and see where it is set. Sounds like they did the total timing deal which may well be the correct total number. It should have 16-22 is my guess, but they backed out 12ish degrees. you need to get both ends of that under control.

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I agree with Cracked 100%. Yes - sometimes there can be hot start issues. But in this case - given what you said they did & said - this is not enough initial. A GOOD dyno tuner would tell you what they found for the initial timing, the centrifugal timing, and the vacuum if it's connected. They would have sold you some small parts to tune the distributor (a $5 spring package),they would have charged you for labor to properly set the centrifugal, and they would have told you what everything was when they were done. I'll add- and it would have startted fine for you.