Timing

What exactly do you do to Time the engine? I know you trun the rotor, but do you have to take the distributor cap off and then pull the distributor and turn it?

loosen the hold down clamp on the dist. then use a timing light to shine on the timing tab above the harmonic balancer, and move the dist left or right till ya get the groove on the balancer to line up with desired degree. on vacuum advance distributers you have to unplug the vacuum line first. on electronic advance you have to un-plug the esc connector

yeah dont take the distributor out, dont take wires off, dont take the cap off. loosen the bolt like 4onthefloor said, grab the cap and turn the whole thing as an assembly. i personally set timing by vacume, hook the vacume guage up to the intake vacume lines, then just turn the distributor, while the engine is running till you get maximum vacume. then back it down just a hair. tighten the bolt holding down the distributor, and youre good to go.

to make it easier to read get a piece of chalk or some white or yellow paint, and mark the grove in the harmonic balancer, so it will be easier to see

I disconnected the esc like the book says and the car died? What the hell is up with that.

And the distributor does not turn but maybe a few degrees is that all it takes?

did you unplug the esc while it was running or before you started it? it should be un-pluged before you start it. if it still dies on you, i'd say it's way retarded and the electronic advance is pulling it up just enough to keep it idling. the distributer should only rotate maybe 2-3 inches at best, if you can only get a few degrees out of it, i think it's off by a tooth.