Haynes manual isn't all that great. The bentley manual sounds great but it's $70 from the dealer or $50 on ebay.
If your timing was off by 90 degrees, I would think the car wouldn't run at all and you drove it home. Wouldn't that just be spark at the bottom of the stroke? You sure you're not mixing up 90 and 180 degrees? (don't get offended) If this is a mark you made, maybe the problem is there. Pull back the timing cover and make sure that with the crank pulley at TDC, the cam gear is at the notch mark as well. That way you'll know that your cam timing is good and that's the position at which the dist should be firing the first cylinder (or close to it). Make sure all the wires are hooked up right according to the manual, if you have 2 wires switched that could make the engine run badly.
Did you ever pull the plugs? If you were burning oil like you said they're probably dirty. That could make the car run poorly too.
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