Distributor installed incorrectly

Good morning. You will need to set the engine at top dead center compression. How you do that is to remove the number one cylinder, drivers front, and move the motor around until you feel pressure coming out of the plug hole. Move the motor until the piston is at the top. You can use a long screw driver or a coat hanger. Then you need to set the distributor in with the rotor pointing toward the wire going to number two cylinder. Make sure the wire connectors to the distributor is facing towards the passenger side. Then you will need a timing light to set the final timing.

Roy

1. Disconnect wiring harness connectors at side of distributor.
2. Remove coil wire and sparkplug wires on either the left or right side of the distributor.
3. Remove distributor cap by the two screws and set to side:
A. Bring engine to TDC on the compression stroke for the #1 cylinder and align timing marks to 0°.
B. Scribe a mark on the distributor housing in line with the rotor.
C. Scribe a mark on the engine in line with the rotor.
D. Note position of the distributor housing in relation to engine.
4. Remove distributor bolt hold-down clamp, raise distributor noting rotor rotation, then remove distributor and gasket (if applicable). Do not rotate crankshaft with distributor removed from engine.

INSTALL OR CONNECT:

NOTE:
To ensure correct timing of distributor it must be installed with rotor correctly positioned as noted in Step 3 of the removal procedure. Line up rotor, mark on distributor housing, and mark on engine.
If distributor shaft won't drop into engine, insert a screwdriver into cavity for distributor and turn oil pump driveshaft.

1. Install distributor and gasket (if applicable).
2. Install hold-down clamp and tighten bolt:
Bolt on the 2.8R to 35 Nm (26 lb. Ft.).
Bolt on the 4.3Z, 5.0H, 5.7K & 7.4N to 35 Nm (25 lb. Ft.)
3. Install distributor cap.
4. Connect wiring harness connectors at side of distributor.
5. Sparkplug wires and coil wires.

Do not ever stick anything metal into a spark plug hole while turning the engine over, you could snap off the metal tip then you will have to somehow get that metal tip out of the cylinder so most likely you will have to remove the cylinder head. Instead just align up the timing mark to zero once you know you are on the compression stroke.
Then once you get the number one piston up at top dead center of the compression stroke, you need to point the rotor to where the number one spark plug wire is on the distributor cap, not where number two is.

Someone had the number one piston up on TDC exhaust stroke when they pointed the rotor toward number one on the cap, that is why it was 180 degrees off. The number one piston was supposed to be at TDC on the compression stroke.