I pulled an 82 Berlinetta out of a friends yard and saved it from mortal wounds of age, water and rust. I was bored and thought it would be easy money to flip it. Charged the battery up, fired it up, drove it on a trailer and brought it home. Seemed to actually run great, had an exhaust manifold missing a couple bolts and gasket was blown out so the noise made it hard to tell. I replaced the bolts and gasket, and really seemed to be running well for what it was. After stripping it down, doing the body work, and throwing a coat of sandable primer on her, I moved on to tuning the engine up. Changed the oil and all the filters, and the plugs. Drove it around the neighborhood and decided it felt weak, and possibly missing. Moved on to plug wires, and cap. Set the wires for the 2.8 times (1-2-3-4-5-6, odds on passenger side, evens on driver side). Wouldnt start, spitting gas, flaming up. Tried moving my #1 plug wire forward, and backward 1 spot on distributer to see if I was setting it wrong there, no change. Decided to set it to 4.3 timings (1-6-5-4-3-2, odds on driver side, evens on passenger side) and it runs, but obvious out of time still, spitting gas and backfiring. Decided to set motor at TDC, popped cap off and confirmed rotor facing 6 0'clockish on distributor to make sure it was set correctly, and it was. Ive gone back and reset the wires, in both firing orders, 2-3 times each retracing my steps and confirming my installation, and have not got the vehicle running. I have confirmed spark from the coil. I ran the VIN number on a WIKI book I found, and it told me it was a 1982 camaro with a 3.8!!! I know this cannot be right, from what Ive heard and read, that is incorrect. I called a local parts store that I trust (not a major chain with college girls answering the phone) and they ran the numbers and their computer says it is a 2.8.

It seems like there is something simple I am missing, or maybe something I am oblivious to, any ideas would greatly be appreciated.