Firing order problem

Hey can anyone advise me on a firing order problem I'm having with a 350 I just bought. Its a 1977 C-10 truck and the first thing I noticed it that the firing order the previous owner was using is exactly one off all the way around the distributor. It was running with the order he had but not well. I changed it to the specs of 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 and it won't start. It was 8-4-3-6-5-7-2-1 and it would start easy. But obviously not running correctly. It was rough and won't accelerate with anything close to a 350 performance. I've encountered a simular problem on a number of occasions with other 350s that were simply someone doing a tune up and not paying attention to the positions of the plug wires to cap or to plug orientation. But I'm thinking this guy may have pulled the distributor and put it back in off a tooth. I've seen these 350s run, not well, but run when the firing order is in just about any order that is why I'm so baffled about this one. Thanks  

Ok I would remove the #1 spark plug and the distributor cap be sure to disconnect the 12 volt power wire place your thumb over the hole and use the starter to bump the engine over until you fell it push pressure out of the cylinder then line up the mark on the balancer to 0 degrees then see were the tab on the rotor points to and that will be #1  
Professional hi-performance engine builder

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Before you do this you need to find out if the ignition system is regular points or HEI. If it is HEI then you have to move the #1 spark plug wire counter-clockwise one spot which changes the spark plug wire order. Then do the TDC test explained above and then check for timing. If the car does not start then you know that it is not an HEI system and you will need to move the spark plug wires back to their original spots.  

ok    lets take a step sideways and look at this...

the firing order is the firing order... it does not matter where the dist rotor is pointing as long as the number one wire is lined up with the rotor and the engine is in the #1 compression tdc... and the wires follow...

the diagrams in the manuals are there so if you do it that way,  your spark plug wires will fit properly...

and the next guy along will not freak out when they see something slightly differnt...

i have found out that if you set the timing mark on the harmonic balancer to what ever base timing is... you can then install the dizzy. make sure that it is down  on the oil pump shaft, and then line up the pickup coil tips and reluctor tips and lock the dizzy down and it will start and run  on the first try with out needing to twist and turn the dizzy to get it to fire.... this is really great to know if the dizzy is buried deep in the wires, hose, cables and intake manifold...