[Beelzeburb]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm spending the day whittling down my choices of possible problem causers.

Yesterday I relocated the fuel pressure gauge up to the engine bay (it had been down by the exhaust) so that heat soak would be less of a concern. The little liquid filled gauge had been getting too hot and reading lower and lower the longer the engine was running. I'm also going to poke a hole in the gauge's fill plug as a pressure relief. After removing the fuel pressure regulator again and turning the Allen screw a little bit more, the fuel pressure came up to 14 p.s.i. at idle. Perhaps I should have elaborated on the exhaust condensation the other day, it was dripping with black sooty deposits riding on the water. It was leaving stains on the driveway, just like when I've accidentally adjusted carbs to run too rich on other vehicles I've owned. I can't tell what it's doing now because it has been raining here for the past three days. Oh, I also unhooked the fuel hard lines and blew compressed air through them just in case there was some sort of blockage. No changes in performance yet.

I'm also definitely going to re-check the timing. I'll be sure to remove the appropriate wire this time. I was curious as to which brand of aftermarket distributor you tried jbclassix. I've heard good things about the GMPP one, but haven't heard anything about other brands.

The other likely problem causers I'm eyeballing right now are the EGR system and all of the ignition system (especially the coil). I had the dizzy cap off the other day, but both it and the rotor are fine. No cracks, no evidence of crossfiring. The firing order is correct and the plugs are sparking bright white. The spark plugs (stock AC Delco style) are gapped correctly and none look overly sooty so far. Both of the ECM grounds are solid, straight to the engine at the thermostat housing. The engine block itself is grounded straight to the battery (battery also grounds to body). The frame is grounded to the block and also the body. With the alternator now working, it holds steady at 14V with the engine running.

It's an EST system, not an ESC system, so there's no knock sensor to befuddle things. Coolant sensors read accurately and it holds a steady 195° when warmed up. The MAP sensor gets it's signal straight from the TBI, it's not teed. The heated O2 sensor is doing it's job properly. There are no air leaks at the base of the TBI, I've already checked that. There are currently no codes in the engine computer. Just making sure I've got all of the basics out of the way first before delving deeper.