driving me crazy
 

i have an 87 ranger 2.3 I recently had the head remanufactured and now have it put back together. the truck runs great most of the time, but skips occasionally. when it does, a little bit of black smoke comes out of the tail pipe. i have replaced the cat converter, fuel filter, plugs, wires, and added a bottle of drygas to the fuel. it was worse, but i advanced the distributor, until it finally started to idle right, but when i shoot it, the mark is at like 30 degreed past the tc mark, almost to the btc mark. could this be a worn out timing belt, or maybe a fuel pump? i do not have the tools or money to spend trying to diagnose the problem, so any tips would be helpful.

U have any idea when the timing belt was last serviced.

If you don't then may not hurt to change it. Even though you advanced it it could be slipping

no idea when last serviced, but the fact that it is so far advanced has me kind of puzzled. it should only be a few degrees past the tdc mark right?