So i got the 350 put in. The car sounds strong but due to it being tbi im not getting high RPM. Well anyways im hearing some crazy ticking noise coming from the driver side engine. And when i floor it the car starts to backfire and stumble in complete harmony with the ticking noise. I was told by the mechanic its a spark plug wire but im not sure. So today I bought some park plugs and wires and hope to have this problem settled. Can anyone give me any advise to what this can be. Thank you
ps- he also said i have to replace the idle sensor that connects into the tbi. Can that cause this stumbling?

 

so its ticking and not knocking so it could be a bad lifter or one of the rocker arms is out of adjustment. also a flat cam could do that also. take the valve cover off on that side and see whats happening while its running. you should be able to tell which one it is. if it wasnt effecting the motors abilty to run right i would say it could be exhaust leak but that would not make it run much different.

 

also if you didnt already have it done then re programing the prom will probably do you some good in terms of the way it runs

 

Sounds like your mechanic already gave you advice on what it could be.
If it is a bad/leaking wire, it would make your engine stumble since spark could be shorting to the block, or another wire. And you would be hearing the spark (sounds like a ticking) as it shorts.
Replace the wires before worrying about what else it might, or might not be.

 

So i replaced the wires today. The car is still ticking but the stumbling, backfiring and hesitation has vanished and I drove it for a half hour and the cars felt great. When I checked the headers, im using the stock 305 once, i saw that they bought the wrong gaskets and it extending out to the left. Can this be a reason for this sound?