1G Hey EXPERTS -- TIMING

[$lacker]

I assume my ignition timing is the problem

I did a head swap on a 93 NT 5spd. All the timing marks line up - The marks on the cam gears are together, the dowels point up, and the crank pulley's mark points at the "T" on the Tbelt cover
Compression is fine, but the car won't run
Try turn it over, and it'll start... but it sputters, stutters and dies
When you try to keep the revs up, it'll hesitate, the rev to ~5k, then drop again. You can't keep any constant rpm
The exhaust wreaks of unburnt gas

Sounds like my ignition timing is too far advanced or retarded...?

Since the car won't idle, am I able to fix the ignition timing myself by adjusting the CAS in between tries with the timing plug grounded?

Any other input/ideas/suggestions?

 

[candela]

make sure the CAS is installed correctly first... no need to bother grounding yet, get it adjusted so it will idle first THEN ground it and set it to 5* BTDC

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Moved to Problem Diagnosis.