68 valiant/ no start

The car has a pertronics ignition, have spark to the plugs. I have a jumper wire from the battery to the coil ( bypassing the ignition ). When trying to start the engine turns over ( using starter fluid ) and will try to start after cranking for a while. I am thinking the timing is off, and was going to loosen the dist and move it when trying to start. Any suggestions ? How can you check to see if timing is off with engine not running ?:banghead:](*,)
Author: furyfrank