Looking for some input. Or a decent shop in the Seattle metro area. Apologies for the wall of text as a first post...
Background-1988 Grand Wagoneer. 20 years owned. Maintained at an independent shop as if it were a 5 year old Toyota. Dead stock with the exception of a Howell FI system.
About a year ago it developed an issue where it would randomly die and not immediately restart. This went on for a few months (getting progressively worse) until it just wouldn't start. Traced the no-start to no spark. I already had a spare coil. I purchased a new made in the USA ignition module and a reman distributor.
I installed the distributor first (it was cheaper than the module) and it started. It ran, albeit poorly and was difficult to start. Timing set to 8 degrees. I check a few other things (fuel filter..). Still runs like crap. I bring it to a shop where the owner tells me the distributor was installed wrong; it's not shouldn't have to have vacuum advance hooked up with the mechanical advance. So he disconnects the vacuum advance and says it's mostly fixed. But the spark plug wires are bad, and that's why it runs poorly. It does start right up now, but still drives like crap.
If I reconnect the vacuum advance the truck dies...trying to restart it, it sputters and back-fires ( just like before). It doesn't matter if I connect the advance to the manifold or the port on the TBI.
I'm not opposed to replacing the distributor again (DUI is still made in the USA) I just don't like the idea of throwing parts at it. What am I missing? What can I check or test for?