Chevrolet Repair: 1978 Chevy Camaro 350, chevy camaro, jumper cables

Question
i got an older car and replaced the top half of the engine with trick flow heads, hooker headers, chevy aluminum intake manifold, and edelbrock 650 4 barrel. heres my problem with question... the car ran before i took off the heads, the gaskets needed to be changed anyways so i did it at that time. I set the number 1 piston at top dead center and now the car will not power up enough to turn over unless another car is hooked up with jumper cables to it as trying to jump start the car, but it still will not power up enough to start, even with new starter and battery. Also backfires through carb, not getting enough spark. im not new to car repair but this just has me stumped.. please help.. thanks!

Answer
Hi Nick, I would first check the ground cable coming from the battery to the engine block. Be sure there is no paint or rust where the ground connects. If it goes to a  bracket be sure the bracket is also clean at the mounting points.

As for the back firing, could be just the timing is too far retarded, or the dist is not in the right place.

Hope this helps

Have a Nice Day         Mark