timing jump

[jimmy hat]

heres something intersting. i checked my timing tonight (with the
light) and the line on the balancer would jump every now and
again...i had it set at about 12 deg and it would read in the same
point for the most part, and then it looked like it would slow down a
little and the light would flash and it be at about 8 deg. is this
a bad timing chain/gear or something (i hope not, i'm broke)

[FSJ Thing]

My money says your timing chain is stretched, but it could also be a few other things.

Check the rotor in the dizzy and see if it moves at all when the engine is stopped. If it turns a bit real easy, the rotor may just be lose, of it moves a little, but feels like it's further down in the motor, it could be the dizzy gear is wearing a bit. Also, do you have an in-line timing light that actually hookes into a spark plug wire or an induction timing light that just clips onto the sparkplug wire? If it's the induction type, is the clip maybe touching another wire at the same time? Just another possibility...