on further research, one of my older Haynes manuals lists 1995 order as 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8 (the way it was set) but my other (newer) Haynes lists it the other way - same as the 1994 order - as do many "answer" sites.

guess i'll switch back in the morning and see what happens. flippity flip this is driving me nuts

 

'93 and earlier= 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8
'94 and later= 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8

 

thanks sean - thats what i get for listening to wikianswers... ugh. could have saved me a load of headaches today. much appreciated.

 

found the routing

 

re-ran the wires the proper way and routed them according to a couple guides I found and ymenski posted - and the damn thing runs like a champ. it smoked a little on start up, but i think that was just burning off old fuel. It didn't smoke anymore once i got it going.

thank you everyone that helped and even read it, hopefully you won't make the mistake i made by not double checking firing order. Plus i saved a trip to the garage