I'm going to have the mechanic check to see if the timing on my car is retarded(instead of advanced). How long does it take to check/change? I looked at the haynes manual, but am still not sure, besides the fact that I would have to have a light.

My probelm is still the stuttering. The engine shakes, and exhaust putt-putts ALOT(and smells heavily of gas), and it all instantaneously happened after I changed the spark plugs. I've asked around, and am going to try to narrow down the problem from this list of things:

change spark plugs
change spark plug wires
check timing
Find out if there is a vacuum leak.

Those are pretty much all it could be. It's not directly the injectors, although they are failing, but the mechanics engine cleaner for the spark plugs didn't help even slightly, so they're not clogged/dirty/too old.
But how long does it take?

 

If you're good, 5 min

If you suck maybe 1 hour