Originally Posted by
perrotto
I'm finally gonna adjust the timing. I hope that this will cure my problem of runnig like shit and backfiring something fierce. I hope there is no valve damage. The belt didn't break, though.
Double check the firing order on your distributor, and set the ignition timing with a timing light.
Ignition timing will not affect piston to valve clearance, so unless you removed the timing belt for some reason you should be fine.