Ron, thanks for the responses on the tank pressure question. Once I got the dizzy sorted out, fuel began moving around as expected. It quickly highlighted all the fuel clamps that were not torqued down properly... That did not lead to anything but a smelly mess.

But... I now know for sure that even with all the plugs out and disconnected from the plug wires, you *can* still ignite the air/fuel spray from the combustion chambers...

Fortunately, this was a pretty minor (although certainly exciting) experience.
A small flame out and a little burning vapor on the side of the block, quickly "patted" out with a damp (not oily) rag. Nothing damaged, except my pride and sense of safety. Live (luckily) and Learn. I did have enough sense to have an extinguisher on hand...


So... I got the car running and confirmed the flow of fuel through the system.
There seems to be an issue with the #2 and #3 injectors firing. I removed and cleaned the connectors and re-plugged the connections. I removed and cleaned the sparks several times. #1 and #4 were always wet, but #2 and #3 tended to be dry. I had removed all my plugs to watch the jets of air/fuel while cranking (when the flame out occurred). There seems to a spray from each cylinder so I'm left scratching my head as to why 2/3 keep coming out dry....

I got her running again and I let her warm up fully - but she died as soon as I put any forward gearbox stress on the engine. While idling she'd rev just fine and the engine sounded fine (as in all cylinders firing).

I've not been able to start her since. I found the dizzy gear was off a couple of notches. I fixed that and reset the static timing (again) but I still can't seem to get her to start reliably. Even worse, the battery keeps getting drained every time I try to start it, suggesting something is "off" in the charging system.

I expected some challenges, so I'll keep plugging away at it.