was running fine till it wouldnt shift from 1st to 2nd, found my way around it by shifting from third, got myself home, called my crafty uncle, he diagnosed the problem, changed the TPS, now the damned thing wont start, just to make sure, i unhooked the new, put back in the old, still nothing. any ideas? i just had it in the shop getting the timing on the distributor fixed aswell! so i dont see how it could be the timing.

 

Could be the ignition switch causing both issues you described.