JEFF im still laughing! The thought of something plugging the exhaust crossed my mind but its been sitting in a well used garage the whole time so I guess I find it sort of unlikely.. the next time I have to remove those headers, its to replace the engine with a BBC. But if it comes to that, we'll see

no seriously I will end up checking that before Im done..
talked with the guy who built the engine the first time.. he says it sure sounds like ignition problems.. he gave me another known good HEI so Im gonna throw that in, change the plugs & this distributor has new 8.8mm wires on it so we'll see where I stand in about 2 hrs..
wish me luck, Ill keep yall posted.
mike