quick need help to get truck running tomorrow

I bought a sweet truck for cheap, and need to get it running tomorrow.
Story from seller is that it was working fine, started smelling like gas, he dropped the tank, the sending unit hard lines were rusted and had broked off, and he just left it sit for months, then sold it.

I bought it knowing this, and the fuel tank is in the bed, and you can see where the hard lines broke off, and I still have the sections of hard line (3-4 inches)

The truck is an 89 mazda b2600i se-5 4x4 short cab short bed with 159,000 miles.

What we did:
I need to drive the truck about 100 miles to get it home to do perminent work to it, we got a 5 gallon gas can, a generic in-tank pump from an S-10 or something, and 18 feet of fuel line. We put the can in the bed, ran soft line to the soft lines under the bed where the original gas tank connected, and dropped the in tank pump into the can, to make a ghetto fuel-cell just to get it home.
I replaced the plugs.

The truck does not start still, but tries to fire just when you first crank it.

things we think we are doing wrong:
the plug wires are from different kinds of cars (2 are for a D-series!), and they don't all make a good feeling connection.
we wired the fuel pump to the battery, just to get it home, so it constantly runs, and nothing is coming back from the return line, probably because there is no vacuum to the fuel pressure regulator since the truck isnt running.

things we checked:
the cylinders are getting fuel, all spark plugs smelled like gas when we changed them 10 minutes into fixing everything
it is getting spark because it backfired once, and shot flames (open header)

so please help, we are going to wire the pump to the stock pump plug, since our hondas pumps don't constantly run, they must be regulated some how, but we dont know how since there is no fuel pressure sensor on a honda.

our background:
I am an ME student at Purdue with a 12 second civic we built, he is at UTI with a 12 second integra he built. between us we know whats going on with a honda, but with the mazda truck i think we could use help


THANKS,
MIKE

the sending unit did come, but it was for a carb truck (doh) so we just did the above, and everything worked. we had changed the plugs, but it still needs wires and timing. The engine runs great at high RPM (70mph in fourth is about as low RPM as it'll run well)(20-25mph in first is great!) but at low RPM it really misses and sputters with no power at all.

the distributor is turned all the way counterclockwise, this is the only way it will run at all, but im going to get a chilton manual to see what all of the timing specs are to get everything aligned, and it should be fine

one of my wires doesn't really make a connection, so more plugs and wires should help too. I'm going to try and find a new fuel tank at a junkyard, but i might just get a 15 gallon fuel cell and run the chevy pump I already have now (which works like a dream!) since it would be better for offroading, and probably cost less (we'll see at the yard though)

let me post some pics

with that setup your looking at a fire hazzard ( i think any one would agree) You're running the risk of fuel splashing up and splashing on to the battery .... I thought you said you had a extended cab . owell.. I STILL recommend getting that new sending unit from rock auto and installing it . Its not that difficult job to do . sense you already have the original tank out the truck take some easy out bits and get the old screws out that hold the old sending unit in place . then replace with new sending unit and stainless screws . Something you never want to do is mis- match spark plug wires buy a set of new ones and plugs and put em on . Was the timing off orginially ?or was someone tinkering with the motor before you bought it ? All it takes is someone who don't know what the hell they're doin to screw up something and cost someone else more headaches and money .i hope you get it fixed its pretty much a easy fix you can get up and running again in a couple days if you get thet efi sending unit overnited or 2 day ground shipment.
GOOD luck .

The battery in the back has been there since January, and it was not next to the tank when i was driving.

as for a fire hazard, yea there was gas everywhere, I just had to get it home!

I'm going to see what I can do about the tank this week, it may take more than easy-outs though, the screws were about 1/2 inch domes of rust (couldn't even tell what drive they were (phillips?))

anyway...

it works now, and i'll see what I can do, as far as work done before, someone had done a head gasket, and not buttoned everything up properly, the ground for the intake manifold was not connected to the firewall, and every clamp you'd take off to do a head was still off just floating on the line.

I'll button that up as much as i can tomorrow, but how do you check to see that the distributor / head / crank are in time, I think one may be a tooth off or something (but it runs strong at high RPM?)

who knows
any more info / comments?

the only way to acturately check timing is with a timing gun . something you could probably rent /borrow from Pepboys . Other wise you'd have to take it to a mechanic unless you have a friend whos' a gear head and has every tool a mechanic would own . Don't take what i said the wrong way i understand you had to get it home but i was pointing out that it would be a fire hazard with that battery right near the gas can that is open thats all . .. the easy outs are there to do just that to get screws and bolts out that can't be taken out by any other means. go over to pepboys / sears and ask them to help you find easy outs . Nice item to have in the tool box never know when you'll need to get a broken or damaged screw out of something . I HAD to use easy outs to get the screws out my sending unit to get my old one out .... its pretty simple to do . just apply pressure to the drill and reverse the bit so it takes the screws out . its money well spent .

I have a timing gun, as well as all the tools i'd need to fully rebuild the whole engine.
I just need to know where the timing needs to be lined up, is there a mark on the crank gear and one on the cam gear like a miata (the only mazda i've owned or worked on)

i've never done anything with a timing chain, my thought is that the cam gear is a tooth off of where it needs to be since its not idling, and running like crap until over 4000 RPM
but since its running fine up top I think its just the plug wires, distributor, plugs, etc.

any thoughts?

Take the timing cover off and you'll see there's witness marks to align it right . They both have to be lined up correctly to opperrate correctly . I would check that . And yea Do the top end Tune up stuff and it should be golden .

i can't wait!!!!
hopefully I can find a place that has wires in stock tomorrow, I'm at Purdue and have class until 5:30 though, but I don't start until 12:30 so I think I might just not get drunk tonight and get up early tomorrow and put a few hours into the whip

OMG I LOVE MY TRUCK

Your initial timing should be set around 5-7 degrees BTC. If you have vacuum advance on your distributor, make sure you unplug it and plug the vacuum line before you adjust the distributors position. When you connect your timing light to #1 plug wire.. try to get it connected as close to the spark plug as you can.. this will make the timing light as accurate as it can be (as far as the timing light flashing at as close to when the spark plug fires as possible). Best of luck

Tunes67

thanks for all the info, i'm going to get a manual for it tomorrow (haynes or chiltons which is better?)

I did the plugs and wires, it starts ifi dont give it throttle, and only runs if i give it about 20% and barely barely runs at that, can't get it to rev high at all.

My thought is a vacuum leak since the head gasket was done, but not really buttoned up. With a MAF and a vacuum leak it would do what its doing for sure.

Also i'm going to check the ground wires, there was a disconnected one on the intake manifold when I got the truck, where are the others?

Also can anyone think of anything else I could check to get it going. Once it runs im selling my accord (current daily driver because my civic got too rediculous to drive every day)

also there are a few open plugs in the engine bay, passenger firewall corner there are 3 green and yellow connectors that don't go to anything, coming from the distributor there is a jacket with 3 wires, 2 plug into the coil, but one is just an open connector (teal wire, black and blue are connected)
there is a frayed wire coming out of the middle of the harness just over the radiator fan, there is nothing close that looks like an open plug, but the harness just has about 1/8 inch of frayed wire sticking out the middle of the long run that goes across the front of the engine bay.

The bolts that hold down the box that sits ontop of the valve cover are missing, could this cause a vacuum leak, I don't know what this box is yet, but it has a large bung intot the intake tube.

so
any common vacuum leaks?
list of grounds?
any idea what those wires are?
does that box have to be bolted down?

btw thanks so much for the support!