I'm having trouble getting the ignition timing correct on my 1985 Subaru GL (carburated). I just replaced the head gaskets. When i put the timing belts back on, I lined them up with the three notches and they are 180 degrees off from each other. But, when I set the flywheel at 0 (TDC) and place the distributor with the rotor at the first cylinder with the vacuum tube off; the car either idles at about 500 rpms or revs up fast towards 7000 rpms.
When I can get the car to idle at 750 rpms the accelerator does nothing. No increase in engine out put. And timing is either 10 degrees retarded or i can't see the timing at all. When I rotate the distributor to where I get the timing to be around where it's supposed to be, the idle sits at about 3000 rpms. At this point I try to mess with the idle on the carb, but still have not had any luck getting the both the idle and timing to match up.
Am I missing a step here? Or any other ideas?