Car would still fire up (or at least backfire) even if they were tight. Highly doubtful that would be it. Seems like a timing issue.
I just got on here now after all-day thrash on mine. If I would have seen it sooner, I would have called ya.
If ya still don’t have it running by the morning, let me know. I’m not gonna get this fucking nitrous system done by next Sat anyway.